A Heated Situation
by Liggy-Minaj
Summary: To choose a mate and have no power over it and to be the one chosen and don't even know it. What a situation to be in!
1. A Mating Heat

**Hey, it feels good to be back in the game. And since this is my most popular fic so far, I am going to start off with this one. I do advise everyone to read through everything again because I have been making some changes. And for those who don't recognize me, then nice to meet you and I hope you enjoy the fic.**

And remember, reviews motivates because all of your opinions matter. Criticism is appreciated too.

**Disclaimer: This goes for the entire fic…I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I own this plot and that is all. Nothing will change pertaining to this status.**

He didn't know what was happening, but right now, his body was on fire. He felt like someone had turned up the heat on him and were still turning the dial, just to torture him. This sensation was new, too new. And to make matters worse, he had the biggest boner that he had ever had in his life. Sex was the last thing that most people thought about when they were sick, but right now, it was the only thing on his mind.

He needed it. Now! So far, he had always been able to control his more primitive instincts, but in this moment, that control was nonexistent and his need was real, very real!

"What are we going to do about him?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't expect this to happen so soon."

Kiba could hear the voices behind his bedroom door clearly, as if they were in the room. He wasn't sure why, but all of his senses had heightened beyond what they usually were. His mom, Tsume, and sister, Hana, were on the other side of that door. His companion Akamaru was also with them. Everyone's scent reeked of worry. They were all worried about him, he knew, but why was the question.

"I didn't expect this either. It's uncommon." Hana said.

"Yes, but Kiba is strong for his age. This heat may be a way of letting us know that he is ready to take over the tribe as alpha." Tsume said, more to herself than answering her daughter. She knew that her son would be a good leader, but was he really ready to take on all of the responsibility?

Kiba couldn't believe what he had just heard. Could his mom have been serious? He knew that all Inuzuka males went into heat, but that wasn't until after their 21st birthday. Kiba still had four more months to go, and there wasn't a guarantee that he would go into heat directly afterwards. Some males went months and years before they had their first heat.

Kiba groaned and rolled over in his bed, clutching onto one of his pillows and sinking his fangs into it. It was all he could do to keep himself from bursting out of his room and taking the next female he came across, whether she was ready or not.

He could get through this. He would get through this. Kiba had worked too hard to gain the reputation he had to let it all go to waste, all because of a heat that got him thrown in jail with rape charges. He would just stay in his room and bear with it.

"Mom, I think that you should let me give him a sedative. It might help calm him down." Hana offered.

The scent of Kiba's heat was so string, that she was sure everyone on the Inuzuka compound could smell it. And an Inuzuka male, especially the next in line alpha, in heat was a prize sought by every female. She had already had to fight off several females that had come to the door offering their 'services' to her brother. She'd be damned if she let just any female get near her younger bro in a time like this. The sedative would hopefully put him to sleep and calm him down.

Tsume shook her head and cast a glance at the front of Kiba's bedroom door. "If you went in there, nothing good would happen. This heat is too strong."

"I've administered sedatives to plenty of males in heat. What do you mean?"

Tsume explained. "This isn't just a regular heat that could be solved with a simple rut with any female. It's a mating heat. Any female that Kiba touches in this heat, he will mark and mate.

Hana gasped. "How? It's far too early for…"

Their conversation was cut off by the sound of breaking glass coming from the inside of Kiba's room. Both females, not even needing to guess what was happening, got up and headed for the front door to the house. Akamaru, who had been sitting at Hana's feet the whole time, followed them.

Kiba didn't know how much more of this he could take. It was bearing down on him, eating away at his insides. He needed to get out of this room. He needed fresh air. Now! Kiba sat up in his bed and looked towards the window. He could see the moon in the sky. He had been held up in here for hours.

Jumping from his bed, he made his way over to the window and tried to open it, but it had been sealed shut. Apparently, his mom had done her job well in making sure that he didn't get out of this room. Well, it was going to take a lot more than some glass to keep him in here. He smirked.

"Bye, I'll see you later"

Sakura walked out of the hospital and into the brisk night air. She sighed, finally happy to be out of that building and started off down the street, heading for her apartment complex. As much as she loved helping people, working at the hospital and dealing with shinobi who felt that they could handle anything without medical attention and kids who cried every time they saw a needle, could really take its toll on a person.

Walking through the streets of Konoha at night was one of the things that Sakura found most relaxing about the place. Sure, didn't mind interacting with her fellow villagers, but to have the village to yourself and just be able to breathe without someone in your face was more than welcomed.

Sakura turned a corner and saw her apartment building come into view. She was lucky enough to have been able to find a place so close to where she worked. It was a good building, reserved for the more 'wealthier' villagers, but since she was the hokage's student and head medic at the hospital, she was able to get the place for next to nothing.

From one of the rooftops, a pair of dark colored eyes watched as, the person they had selected as their prey, walked down the street. The owner of those eyes licked a pair of lips that pulled back into a smirk.

He watched, glued to his spot as the kunoichi made her way down the street, unaware of what she had just volunteered herself for by even being out tonight. Her hips, clad in a pair of scrubs, swayed and her breast, though not nearly as full as he preferred them, bounced with perkiness after each step she took. He could feel his boxers getting tighter, just watching the delectable tease from where he was.

Right now, he wasn't sure if it was him or the heat that gave him these thoughts and he didn't care. All he knew was that, before this night was over, she would be his.

Sakura walked up the steps on the front of her building to the second floor, where her apartment was located and stopped to dig in her pockets for the keys. She pulled out the key chain and unlocked the door, entering her apartment and closing it behind her.

"Home sweet home." she sighed and walked to the kitchen to grab a snack out of the refrigerator to eat. She had been working so hard today that she had missed lunch and didn't bother to stop for dinner. She saw that she still had some lunchmeat and bread, with not much else, and opted to make herself a sandwich. She did make a mental not to go shopping soon.

Eating her food, Sakura headed straight for her room. All she wanted to do now was take a nice hot shower and then crawl into her bed and sleep for the next two days that she had off. Finishing off her food, she grabbed a pair of underwear and a long shirt from her dresser and headed for the bathroom across the hall from her room.

A figure touched down on the balcony that leads to a pair of double doors that opened right into the female's room. It watched as the girl retrieved some clothes and left the room, probably going to shower, it figured. Once the girl was out of sight, and the sound of running water could be heard, it crept through the doors and into the girls room.

He stopped for a moment, becoming so overwhelmed with the scents around him. The entire room smelled like her. It was like springtime and strawberries, all mixed into one. He had become so caught up in this heavenly scent that he didn't noticed when the girl came back into the room until he heard a high pitched shriek.

"KIBA!"

When Sakura had stepped out of the shower, the last thing she expected to find in her room was Kiba Inuzuka. She looked towards her balcony doors and saw that they were slightly open. Damn. Naruto was right; she did need to start locking those things.

"Uh…what are you doing in my room?"

When Kiba looked at Sakura, she noticed the slightly wild look in his eyes. "A-Are you ok?" she stuttered, taking a few steps back in case she had to make a run for it.

Kiba watched the girl's movements closely. She was getting closer to the door, he noted, and smirked. Did she really think that she could run to get away from him now?

He gave a dark chuckle. "Sakura…You're mine!"

When the words 'mine' left Kiba's lips, Sakura felt her stomach drop. She eyed him and kept inching back towards the door. If she could just get out of her room, then she could run for help, assuming that Kiba didn't catch her first. Sakura shook her head of the thought. Right now, she needed to worry about getting away.

Kiba watched as his prey continued to move closer to the door, planning her escape. Though, her attempts wouldn't be successful, the beast in him loved the thrill of the chase and couldn't wait for her to run. Catching her and making her submit would just be that much more satisfying. He continued to watch her closely.

_Go ahead Sakura, Make your move._

Sakura finally felt her hand touch the round knob that she had been searching for. With her eyes never leaving the Inuzuka in front of her, she eased the door open with a creek. He just continued to watch her. Once the door was opened wide enough, Sakura took a deep breath. It was now or never. She would only get one chance to run and try to get away and if she failed, then she didn't even want to think about what would happen to her then.

'_Ok, here I go.'_

Sakura made a dash out of her room and down the hall. She could see the front door and was already starting to reach her hand out for it, not even bothering to look back to see if Kiba had followed her at all. Her freedom was so close.

Kiba watched in wry amusement as the girl ran and let out a dark chuckle. No Inuzuka let their mates escape them so easily, and after tonight, that's exactly what she would be. Kiba gave the girl a few seconds before he followed her out the door with a speed that he knew she would never be able to match.

Sakura felt the tips of her fingers touch the knob to the door that held her freedom behind I before two arms wrapped around her midsection, stopping her in her tracks. She could not believe this was seriously happening. What the hell was wrong with Kiba? Why was he acting like this?

"KIBA!" Hana landed on the top another roof and took a second to sniff the surrounding area for any trail of her younger brother's scent. There was none. 'Damn', she cursed and looked around. From where she was, she couldn't see Kiba anywhere.

"I told you that this would not work."

Hana turned to see her mother, Tsume, and Akamaru land on the roof beside her. She knew that they had come to convince her to give up looking for her brother. But, she just couldn't. If Kiba was left out alone, especially in the condition he was in, he would probably rape the first girl he came across.

"We won't find him tonight." Tsume said. "He's in heat. His scent is being naturally masked because of it, and that only means one thing."

"What does it mean?" Hana asked, turning to her mother with a sharp expression. Akamaru whined. "Tell me, what does it mean?"

Tsume looked away, not liking the answer that she knew herself. "When in heat, especially a mating heat that Kiba is in, an Inuzuka's scent becomes stronger like what we felt back at home…"

"Then why can't we find it now?" Hana asked.

Tsume continued. "His scent spike to alert the females around him…Then, once he's chosen a female, the scent completely disappears."

Hana inhaled and her eyes widened. With Kiba's scent missing, that meant that he had already chosen his prey. But, there had to be something they could do…

"His scent disappears when he finds his mate, that means that there might still be a chance that we can stop him from doing something stupid right?" she asked.

Tsume shook her head. "You don't understand…It doesn't just disappear when he finds his mate, it disappears when he mates her."

At that, Hana felt her heart drop. That meant, that whoever her brother had found, he was already mating with her and most likely, against her will.

**Bet you guys though you were gonna get a lemon. Well, not in the first chapter, but I still hope you all enjoyed and are willing to drop a review.**

**Cya**


	2. The Next Day

**Hey everyone, finally got some time to work on chapter 2, hope you all enjoy it. I am hoping that my updates can stay pretty consistent. I want at least two chapters a week. Anyone, on with this chapter and please make sure you drop a review when you're done and let me know what you think.**

Chapter 2

Kiba groaned and set up in his bed, rubbing his head to fight off the migraine that he beginning. Looking around his room, he couldn't help but think that the sun was definitely rising earlier these days, and someone was going to catch hell for breaking his window. Why would they do that anyway?

Kiba looked at the foot of the bed when he felt movement and saw Akamaru, watching him cautiously. "Hey boy, what's the problem?" He held out his palm to him. "Come here."

Akamaru whined and moved closer to his best friend and master, sniffing his palm before letting Kiba rub his head. His scent was almost normal again. He was finally returning to his old self.

"There you go. What was wrong with you boy?"

Kiba stood up out of his bed and stretched his stiff muscles. Man was his body sore. He tilted his head, trying to remember exactly what he had done last night. Let's see, he remembered being incredibly hot and horny. Oh yeah, he did go into heat last night. What else happened? He was hot, horny, angry, kind of cold after a minute, and then…relaxed. He wasn't sure where the relaxed part came in at. Must have been his heat finally letting up.

Kiba shrugged and walked out of his room, heading to the kitchen to get something to eat, figuring that he had just passed out from the heat and slept the rest of the night away. In the kitchen, Hana and Tsume were sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in their hands. Neither one of them made eye contact with him but instead watched him from the side.

"Morning." Kiba greeted as he entered the room and went right to the refrigerator to get some milk for a bowl of cereal. He poured himself some and took a seat in the empty chair at the head of the table. No sooner than he had sat down, he noticed Hana eyeing him almost like Akamaru had been. What the hell!

"Is there something on my face or do you have a problem?"

Tsume put down her coffee cup and cleared her throat. Kiba didn't miss the sly smirk that appeared on her face. "It is rude to disturb the alpha of the clan and or the house when he is eating." Her smirk grew larger after saying it and she stared directly at him.

Kiba arched a brow at her, thinking that his mother had probably snapped. He looked towards Hana for reassurance, but their eyes only met for a brief second before she quickly looked away, finding something interesting on the floor.

Kiba sighed. "It's way too early in the morning to be playing jokes. Can you please not toy with me right now?"

Tsume chuckled. "No one is toying with you Kiba. You are the alpha of this clan as of today. Enjoy your breakfast…son." she said and got up to leave the kitchen.

"Tell me she's joking." Kiba said and looked back to his sister. If there was one thing that Kiba didn't want to do, that was become alpha of the clan too early. That's why he was always careful not to mate with any of the girls he fucked or get them pregnant. He was only twenty after all.

"I'm sorry Kiba." Hana whispered, still not meeting his stare. "You are the alpha of the clan now."

Hana flinched when a pair of fist slammed down on the table and Kiba stood up growling. "There is no fucking way that I'm the alpha of this clan. I'm not even-"

"Whether you want to believe it or not, you are the alpha of this clan now, and…you are mated."

Hana and Kiba looked to see Tsume coming back into the room. She leaned against the doorway with her arms folded.

Kiba glared. "What are you talking about?" He wasn't mated or the alpha. No way in hell!

"Do you remember your heat Kiba? All of it?" Tsume asked.

He thought for a moment. What did this have to do with anything? He had already gone through this in his own minds this morning. "I remember most of it. I feel asleep after a while. Why?" he asked.

Tsume shook her head. "That is not even close to what happened."

Hana decided to cut in at this point. "Kiba, last night…your heat was too much for you…so you ran away, busted out of your room."

Well, Kiba thought, that explained one thing at least; how the window got broken. "Okay, so I probably went out for some air to cool off. So!"

"That's not all you did." Tsume chuckled. "You were in your mating heat. So when you left, it wasn't fresh air you were after."

"You went in search of your mate." Hana explained.

Kiba didn't know what to say for a second. He was too shocked to respond to anything, running all the information through his mind. He had left to find a mate!...But, he had woken up alone, so that means that nothing happened, right?

"But that doesn't prove that I'm mated." he said, confident with his theory.

Hana shook her head. "We went looking for you, tried to follow your scent, but we couldn't. It disappeared."

"Disappeared?...What does that have to do with anything?"

Tsume answered. "In a mating heat, the male's scent only disappears when it is merging with the females…during the mating."

Kiba's draw dropped. "So, you're telling me…"

"Somewhere in this village, you have a mate." Hana said. "But, we don't know who it is. And since, you don't remember who it was, we'll have to wait and find out."

Kiba fell back into the chair he had been sitting in, his head falling in his hands. If all that they said happened last night really happened, then he did have a mate running around Konoha. Damn! This was all happening way to early, both in life and the morning. Shit!

Kiba sighed. There was nothing left to do, but the right thing. "Ok, how do I find the girl that's supposed to be my…m-mate?" Saying the word left a bad taste in his mouth. This was not good at all.

"Tsume shrugged. "We can't go looking for her. We won't know who she is until the mark appears and the symptoms start. Since you two didn't have a traditional mating, it was not complete and the effects would take longer to set in." she explained. "The girl may not even remember who you are or anything that happened."

"Effects?" Kiba asked, watching her through his fingers. He also made a mental note of how much more difficult this would be if the girl didn't even remember him.

"The mark won't appear for another few days at least. But, there will be cravings and urges. You two need each other and since the mating was not complete, you need each other that much more." Hana said.

She stood up and starting walking out of the kitchen, before stopping and turning back to her brother with a determined look, the only look she had given him all morning. "Kiba, the girl that is your mate, you raped her and now she has no choice, but to accept the mating against her will…You doomed her to the life of the alpha female of this clan." After that, she left, leaving Kiba even more confused and lost now.

"What do I do?" he asked himself.

"You suck it up. What's done is done. Just wait for your mate to be revealed and then we can move on from there…I'm sorry." Tsume muttered and left the kitchen also.

Now Kiba was alone, with nothing to do, but play the waiting game…Bullshit! He left the kitchen and headed for the front door, whistling for Akamaru to follow. The white dog came running down the stairs and they both left the house.

Kiba knew he could do it. He would find this girl and a way out of this himself.

A pair of emerald eyes slowly started to open as the first rays of sunlight touched down on the sleeping figure that was tucked neatly in bed, strands of pink slipping from under the covers. Sakura groaned, and started to sit up right, throwing the covers back, but stopped. She looked down at herself. Since when did she start going to bed naked?

Tossing the thought aside, and glancing at the clock on her nightstand, she stood and made her way out of her room and into her bathroom. Last night was the final night of her graveyard shift at the hospital and she had to be at work in three hours. Working at night did usually give her the day off, but switching back over was always horrible. There would always be those few days where she would get almost no sleep because of her internal clock switching back over.

Sakura stepped into the shower and turned on the water, stepping under the spray, letting the heat relax her muscles. Maybe she had been training too hard and it was just catching up to her, she thought after noticing the unfamiliar pain in her thighs for the first time. Stepping out of the shower, she headed back to her room and put on a light blue scrub set and pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

She gave one last look towards her clock before leaving the house. She was a little early so decided that she would stop at Ichiraku's for breakfast. Leaving the house, she smiled to herself. With any luck, Naruto would be there and would offer to pay.

Kiba made his way through the streets of Konoha with Akamaru at his side and he was eyeing every female that he passed. Most of them noticed and opted to steer clear of the dog nin. Even the girls that would be usually going out of their way to get his attention were smart enough to keep their distance. His aura practically screamed don't fuck with me today.

Kiba was on a mission. He was going to find his _mate_ and set things straight. There was no way in hell he would stay tied down to some girl he didn't even know. Even with no real clues to go on, he was determined to find the bitch.

"This is ridiculous. Why can't I remember?" he muttered to himself. As much as he tried, there was a blank spot in his memory that he could not unblock. He knew that the girl wouldn't remember, but why him too?

"You won't remember her until she calls to you." Akamaru said, hating to see his friend going through this. "But even then, only you will remember the full event."

Kiba looked over at his companion. "What do you mean by that? How can she contact me if I can't contact her? And why am I the only one getting the full memory?"

Akamaru explained. "Since the mating was incomplete, your mark will appear on her in time, but the connection between you two is weak. Also, this isn't uncommon so you remembering and not her is a way of protecting the mating. If she knew you raped her, she might not accept you."

Kiba sighed. He really hated them saying that. Rape was wrong and he would never have consciously did it. "So, you're saying, if she needs me or something, she'll automatically call for me."

"Well, her mark will. She won't know." Akamaru had been told by Kiba's mom, Tsume, not to say anything. Apparently she wanted him to figure it all out for himself. But, the way he saw it, none of this was really Kiba's fault. Besides, he wouldn't tell him everything. Just enough.

Kiba sighed and his shoulders slumped. "So, I'm basically wasting my time until something happens and she calls." Akamaru whined his answer. Sadly, there really was nothing they could do at the moment but wait.

"Fine. Might as well get something to eat."

The pair kept walking until they came to Ichiraku's. Upon entering, Kiba spotted Naruto at the back. He smirked. This was the only place Naruto would spend most of his day, when not training. Though, this worked out for the better. Kiba really didn't feel like being alone right now.

"Yo Naruto, what's up!" Kiba greeted before taking a seat in the booth, across from him. Akamaru took up his usual spot at his feet.

"Oh, hey Kiba!" Naruto had just been about to leave, but decided that he didn't mind hanging with Kiba for a while. "So, what's been going on?"

Kiba groaned and slapped his hand against his forehead. "What hasn't been going on?"

"Bad day?"

"Bad life...but it'll get better...hopefully."Akamaru barked and rubbed his head against Kiba's leg. He reminded his friend that it would be best not to talk about clan business, especially this particular subject.

The waitress came and this time, only Kiba placed an order for him and Akamaru. Naruto had exceeded his limit of ramen for the morning.

"You know," Naruto started, "If you just need to get away, I'm thinking about taking a mission to pass the time. You could come too if you want."

Kiba thought it over for a second. There really was no use in him hanging around here, especially if the odds of him finding this mystery girl were very slim. A mission with Naruto didn't seem so bad actually. Plus, it would get him away from the clan for a while. He had a feeling that his mom was going to try and push this whole alpha thing and that's what he didn't want.

"Sure, I'll tag. It's better than hanging around here." Akamaru barked his agreement. Besides, if what his mom said was true, then he would have a few days to wait before anything would happen in his favor.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura greeted as she entered the ninja's favorite ramen shop and spotted him towards the back. He was also sitting with Kiba. She walked over to his booth and took a seat next to him.

"Hey Kiba, Akamaru."' She also greeted them

"Hey Sakura! Thought you had the next few days off?" Naruto asked, noticing that she was wearing her uniform.

"After today I do. Last night was my last night working. I'm back to my normal schedule. But, I get a small break afterwards." she explained.

Naruto shrugged. "So, what have you been up to?"

Ever since Sakura started the graveyard shift at the hospital, he hadn't really seen her that much because she would sleep as much as she could during the day. Sure, he thought about disturbing her a couple of times but knew that she needed her rest. Naruto also hated the fact that she was walking home so late, by herself. Usually, he would wait and offer to walk with her, but Sakura would just turn him away.

"Nothing much." Sakura answered. "Working too hard and training even harder." she said, remembering her pain from earlier.

The soreness in her muscles had dulled down the most. All that was really bothering her was the strange pain that she was beginning to have in the neck. There was a slight burning sensation on the left side. Perhaps she would get it looked at when she got to the hospital.

Kiba's food was finally delivered and he put Akamaru's bowl at his feet for his friend to eat. He focused on eating his food and just watched as the two team mates fell into a comfortable conversation.

"So, what are you doing with your time off?" Naruto asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I'm not sure. I haven't made any plans"

"Well, me and Kiba are planning on picking up a mission. Wanna tag?" Naruto asked. It really had been too long since she had last been out of the village, or on a mission in general. Working as the head medic, really kept Sakura busy and out of rotation for missions. Tsunade figured that it would be more beneficial for her to be in the hospital instead of out of the village.

She thought about it for a while. "Of course I'll go. Since I have the free time, there's not much to do around here anyway."

"Awesome. You don't mind, right Kiba?" Naruto asked.

Kiba swallowed his food. "Sure." He had been on missions with Naruto, but never Sakura. Although he hated having to go on missions with girls, he had heard that Sakura was pretty strong and capable of carrying her own, so he didn't see an issue.

"Thanks. This will be fun. Especially since Hinata isn't her right now." Naruto said, thinking of his girlfriend who was on a mission of her own at the moment.

Now that Sakura thought about it, Naruto wasn't at the hospital yesterday to try and walk her home. He had probably gone to see Hinata off for her mission with Ten ten and Shino. It was almost funny to think about Naruto and Hinata dating. The poor girl had been crushing on him since the academy. The knucklehead was just too oblivious to know, even when everyone else did.

"Didn't you have to be at work?" Kiba asked after a while. He and Akamaru had both finished their food when he noticed how long Sakura had actually been with them.

"Shit!" Sakura cursed and jumped out of her seat. If she rushed she wouldn't be late. "See you two!" she yelled, running away from the restaurant. As she got farther away, the pain in her neck was starting to throb again.

"_I probably injured myself sleeping the wrong way. I didn't do anything else after work...Not that I can remember."_She absentmindedly touched the spot on her neck that was irritated.

**OKAY! That was the redone version of chapter 2. It was basically the original chapter 2 and 3 combined and edited. But I still hoped you liked everything still. And remember to drop me plenty of reviews because knowing how my readers feel is what inspires me to write!**

**Cya**


	3. Missions and Solutions

**Hey, this fic is really coming along and I'm so glad to be working on it again. I'm extremely anxious to get back to where I originally left off. Hope you all are enjoying the fic and I am super glad to be back in action!**

**Chapter three**

"So, you're telling me that you have no idea who this mystery girl is?" Tsunade leveled a stare at Tsume Inuzuka, her longtime friend and, as she had put it, former alpha of the Inuzuka clan.

Tsume had come to her office personally to explain the situation with Kiba to Tsunade and she understood why. Apparently, if this girl, whoever she was, found out that she had been raped, she could have had Kiba arrested and stripped of his ninja status. Luckily, now that the situation had been made clear, Tsunade would at least be able to defend the boy, though she wasn't sure how much that would help his case. Konoha did have to honor the traditions of all the clans, the Inuzuka's being no exception, but there were still laws. This was one hell of a tough situation.

"Since the boy was only working off of natural instinct, if an issue arises, we might not have much to worry about." Tsunade said. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "But, first things first. We have to find this girl." That was easier said than done. There were hundreds of females alone in the village and they had to find one.

Tsume smirked as she thought the situation over. "Well, if I know my son, whoever the girl is, she's strong. Inuzuka alphas are naturally attracted to the strength."

"This is a ninja village. Most of our females are strong in their own way. That doesn't really narrow it down."

Tsunade was racking her brain to figure this out. There just had to be something they could do to find this odd girl. There at least had to be a sign or something that they could look out for. "Hmm.."

Tsume looked at Tsunade expectantly. "What you got?" She wanted to find this girl probably just as much as Kiba did. Although. She knew that the mating couldn't be reversed; she still wanted to see the strength of this girl first hand. Even if she would be Kiba's mate and the new alpha female, she wouldn't let a weakling get past her.

"For Kiba to unconsciously pick a female with strength, he would have to know firsthand that she is strong, without a doubt right?" Tsunade asked. She wasn't sure how right she was with this, but the pieces were starting to make sense in her head.

Tsume nodded. "Yes, I guess so." Kiba wouldn't have had time to search through female after female in his heat, so he would go for what would be a sure thing; something he was already previously aware of. Tsunade had a point.

"That means, that Kiba would have to have come in contact with this particular girl a numerous amount of times, correct?"

"Yeah." Tsume was starting to see where Tsunade was going with this. "He had to have known the girl on a personal level, or fought with her at one point."

Tsunade nodded. They had at least just narrowed it down to a list of girls. "Our only option is to check out the girls that graduated from the academy with him first and hope it's one of them." She didn't wish something so tragic on any of the girls, but at least they wouldn't have to search the entire village if it was one of them.

Tsume nodded her agreement. It only made sense that Kiba would pick a female whose strength and weaknesses he knew of from experience. "That's not bad. There were only a few girls that actually graduated in his group."

Although Tsunade agreed, she knew that if they were right and it was a girl from Kiba's group, then they might run into an even bigger problem. Most of the girls in his class were daughters of very prominent clan leaders and none of them would take too well to what was going on at the moment.

"Look, let's keep this between us. Until we find this girl, no one else in Konoha should know about this. I don't want a war of clans." Right now, Konoha was experiencing a rare time of peace and, as hokage; Tsunade did not want anything to ruin that.

Sakura sighed and leaned back in her office chair, staring at the ceiling with her arms behind her head. Today was so boring. She was hoping that the hospital would be busy so that the time would pass quickly and her vacation could officially begin, but luck was not on her side. There was no check-ups, no sick or injured kids, no sickly elderly, no injured ninja, nothing. After making her rounds with the patients already admitted, she was done. Even all of the other nurses were somewhere watching TV or playing cards.

"How boring. I'll never get out of here." she thought to herself.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Sakura straightened herself up and called for the person to enter. The door creaked open and Shizune poked her head inside. "Hey Sakura. Working hard I see." she teases before entering the room and stopping to stand in front of her desk.

"I wish. Sakura groaned. "There's not any work to do."

"I noticed." Shizune smiled. "Why don't you just go home? I'll let Tsunade know. There's no need for you to be here. You can just be on call for today."

Sakura almost jumped out of her seat at that offer. She was more than happy to get out of this graveyard today. "I am so taking you up on that, but don't worry about telling Tsunade. I was going to stop by there anyway."

Tsunade and Tsume were still talking. So far, they had composed a list of girls to investigate; Hinata, Ino, Tenten, and Sakura. Luckily there had been so few girls in Kiba's class so this should be easy.

"Exactly how do we go about finding out which girl is the one?" Tsume asked.

"Well, there has to be something that would stand out about…" There was a knock at the door before Tsunade could finish speaking.

Tsume and her looked between each other before Tsunade gave the order to enter. The door slowly creaked open and a head of familiar pink hair peeked in. Tsunade recognized who it was instantly. Though, she was surprised to see Sakura. She was sure she had to work today.

Sakura stepped into the room and smiled when she noticed Tsume sitting in the chair. She bowed politely. "I could just come back if you're busy."

Tsunade hadn't seen Sakura in a while. She never had to go to the hospital much when Sakura was on call. She was one of the best medics there. Nothing ever went wrong when her student was overseeing things. And most of the patients knew about her incredible strength and weren't dumb enough to make her angry by causing any trouble.

"No, it's fine. How can I help you?"

Sakura stepped even farther into the room. She bowed to Tsunade this time before making her request. "The hospital was empty today so Shizune let me leave. Also, since I have the next few days off, I would like to request a mission for Naruto, Kiba, and myself" she said and straightened up.

Tsume watched as their eyes met, like they were having a private conversation between each other. This must have been the apprentice that she heard Tsunade had been personally training so hard. She herself had never met the girl, though she did look familiar.

"Is that all you needed?" Tsunade asked, breaking the silence. She had no problem sending Sakura on a low level mission to give the girl a chance to unwind. She did work hard enough to deserve it.

"Well..." Sakura brought her hand up to rest against the side of her neck. She did want Tsunade to take a look at it, but she could always just try to heal it on her own. Besides, she was good enough with her chakra to heal a simple sore neck. That's all it was anyway. Not like she had seriously injured herself at any time.

Sakura smiled. "That was all sensei."

"Then you may leave. I'll send for you with your mission details at a later date."

After that, Sakura gave one last formal bow to Tsume and turned and exited the hokage's office. Tsume looked back at Tsunade, taking note of the fond gleam in her eye she had for the girl. "That must be the apprentice I heard so much about." Tsume stated.

"Yes. She's grown so much since I started training her." Tsunade could still remember when she first encountered Sakura. She was the young, love struck, girl that always got looked over in her group. Of course, being partners with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha didn't leave her much room to make a name for herself. Kakashi had made a mistake when he overlooked Sakura, using her intelligence as an excuse to put his focus into Naruto and Sasuke.

But, that hadn't stopped Sakura. She just needed some help and guidance in order to find her own way in the world of a kunoichi. Lucky for Tsunade, her chakra control and brains had made her an excellent candidate to be her apprentice. It had also given Sakura's own self-esteem a boost in the process.

"Didn't that girl graduate the same year as Kiba?" Tsume asked. That had to be where she recognized her from. Her name was on the list and with hair like that, she was hard to miss. She remembered seeing her around, but she had never personally seen Kiba interact with her.

"Yes, she was top of the class." Tsunade boasted, sounding like she was talking about her own daughter.

Tsume had a thought but decided to ignore it. Besides, what were the odds? It was more likely to be the Yamanaka girl or the Hyuga girl. Kiba actually associated himself with them. But, still...

"You know, Kiba should get out of the village for a while." Tsume agreed. "Also, this might be a good way to test things without letting anyone find out."

Tsunade threw a confused look in her direction. "What are you talking about?"

"Missions; we should send Kiba on a mission with every girl on the list. If he encounters the right one, the two will almost instantly respond to each other."

Tsume smiled to herself. It would be interesting to see if Kiba was connected to this one. From what she knew, the minute the two of them left the village together, if she was the right girl, their mating bond would start to react to one another. It would be impossible almost to keep them apart. Sakura would feel the pull to be near him and Kiba would feel the need to assert himself as her alpha. Things really would get interesting.

Tsunade agreed with this idea. It was a discreet enough way of going about things that wouldn't start any trouble.

**Okay, I changed some things around and added some things. Hope you all enjoyed. I am almost caught up to where I left off in the original version and I know you are all anxious for that! Well, remember to read and review. Reviews are definitely what keep me writing.**

**Cya**


	4. Let's Begin

**Yay! I am so on a roll right now! This is all for you guys! I love my fans and I love it when people review and let me know what they think! Your excitement fuels my inspiration. So the more reviews and comments I get, the faster I'm likely to update. So keep em coming and on with the fic!**

**Disclaimer: I might only own this fic, but I'm loving it at the moment.**

**Chapter four**

The following day, an anbu was sent out, by order of Tsunade, with a mission statement for Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Inuzuka Kiba. She had picked them a fairly easy mission, but not one so simple that they would get bored; a simple search and destroy. The only catch, the team was not allowed to read the mission statement until they reached their destination, which was a small village to the east; about a day away.

"What type of mission doesn't let you know what you have to do beforehand?" Naruto complained. He was waiting at the front gates with Kiba and Akamaru.

"Don't be so loud." Kiba said.

The rest of Konoha was still fast asleep, waiting for the sun to rise. Naruto, Kiba and Sakura had all decided to leave early, in hopes that they could cover as much ground as possible in one day. Right now, the two of them were waiting for Sakura to show up. Tsunade had requested a audience with her before the mission started, leaving them to do nothing but stand there and wait.

"Man, I'm already sick of this. What do you think they're talking about?" Kiba asked to no one in particular. He hated waiting on women. They were always so slow. Akamaru whined and rubbed his head against his leg.

"Knowing that old lady, she's probably gonna make Sakura the leader of this mission and give her more info than we're going to get." Naruto said, now leaning against the wall with his hands resting behind his head.

Kiba inwardly groaned. Sure, he had no problem taking orders. He was a ninja and had been doing it all his life. He just hated taking orders from women. It was nothing personal. Just his personality. He was an Inuzuka male and they did not do well being told what to do by females. They were natural leaders of the pack. He looked down at Akamaru who knew exactly what his friend was thinking.

"Relax, I doubt shell go all power hungry." Akamaru barked. He himself, had no problem taking orders from a female. Usually, they were the ones that would scratch him behind the ear for a job well done.

"Yeah, I know. But still..."

Naruto watched the display from where he was standing on the wall. It was so odd to see Kiba talking to Akamaru. He knew that they both understood what each other was saying, but still. _'I wonder if I can learn to talk to dogs.'_

Sakura was just making her way into Tsunade's office as the anbu had ordered. She, Kiba, and Naruto had just been making their way out of the village when the anbu had shown up with a summons from the hokage for her. She couldn't really think of what the hokage wanted to say, seeing as none of the mission details were given to them. Perhaps she was going to let her know something else about the mission, Sakura thought.

When she got to the doors that lead into the hokage's office, she knocked. "Hello, Lady Tsunade?"

Tsunade looked up from the scroll she had been reading over, expecting Sakura's arrival. "Come in." she called out and rolled the scroll up, tucking it away in her desk just as the doors were closing behind her. Tsunade looked Sakura over before starting to say what had been bothering her.

"I have something that I wanted to clear up before you left." Tsunade began. She softened her gaze when she noticed how stiff the younger girl was under it. "Don't worry, it's just a few questions."

'Uh...ok." Sakura sighed. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was getting a weird feeling.

Tsunade nodded. "First off, the only females that graduated in your group from the academy were, Hinata, Ino, yourself, and Tenten right?"

"That's correct." Sakura agreed, trying to figure out where this could possibly be leading.

Tsunade continued. "And, Hinata left for a mission, leaving only you, Ino, and Tenten in the village?"

When Sakura agreed again, Tsunade almost wanted to scream, but managed to keep her composure. After talking to Tsume yesterday, she had been up all night thinking about the current Kiba situation, still trying to narrow down the list. Once she put her mind to it, the equation itself wasn't so hard.

There were only four girls that Kiba hung around enough to be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Out of those four, one was gone during the night that Kiba went into heat, leaving only three possible suspects. Though, Tsunade hated to mention it, Tenten and Sakura were the closest in strength out of those two. And one of them, was Kiba's mate, but which one?

Of course, Tsunade didn't exclude the other females in the village. Kiba could have had connections to someone that wasn't a kunoichi. Strength did come in all types of ways after all. Right now, she just had to go with the obvious. And if this didn't work, then she would focus on the other girls in Konoha.

Sakura was standing there, waiting for Tsunade to say something, anything. She looked deep in thought, but what could she be really thinking about that had to do with she and her friends? "Is everything well? With the girls, I mean?" She would hate to think that something was wrong with any of them. Being the only group of kunoichi to graduate from the academy that year, they all had a pretty strong bond with each other.

Tsunade snapped back to reality at Sakura's voice. "No, I was just thinking about something." All though she hated to think that Sakura might be the girl that was forced into this position, she had to face the facts. Tsunade sighed. This whole situation was going to get messier than she thought.

"I'm taking Naruto off the mission. I have something else I need him to do. Send him to my office. Also, Kiba is the team captain and only you and he will leave now...You're dismissed." Tsunade stated with an air of finality, leaving Sakura with no rooms for questions. All she could really no was bow and leave. As soon as the doors closed, Tsunade groaned and rested her head on the desk. She was going to need a drink when all of this was over, a permanent drinking vacation in fact.

Sakura made her way out of the hokage's tower and was heading back to the front gate where Naruto and Kiba were still waiting for her. Her mind was going into overload, picking through the questions that she had been asked and trying to figure our what Tsunade had planned. It was odd for her to be so interested in the kunoichi, especially that particular group. Sure, they had all proven themselves over the years, going through more than most ninja's went through their first time out of the academy, but what was it.

Then there was the issue of Naruto being taken off the mission. No, Sakura had no problem working with Kiba, though she had never done it before. Naruto had always gone on every mission she's ever been on. Not like she needed him or depended on him, he was just always there. Like a security blanket almost. Sakura sighed. And Kiba was the leader of the mission. She had seen the dog nin in action a few times. He was brash and didn't seem to think his next move out too thoroughly. That kind of left her wondering how this mission would end up.

Eventually, the front gates came into view. Sakura walked over to Kiba and Naruto and apologized for keeping them waiting for so long. Then she looked towards Naruto. "Tsunade wants to see you. She's taking you off the mission." she said sadly.

Naruto paused for a second, letting the words that Sakura had said sink in. Tsunade was taking him off the mission. Him! "WHAT! WHY!"

Sakura could only shrug. "She said she has something else she needs you to do. So only Kiba and I are going on this mission...And he's the team leader." she added as an afterthought.

Naruto couldn't believe this. She had another mission. Weren't there other ninja in Konoha that could handle it? He had really been looking forward to this. Besides Sasuke, it was almost like the old team was together again. He hadn't been on a mission with Sakura in forever. She was always working and never had time. And, Sakura and Kiba had never worked together before. They barely even communicated. They would need him there to level the situation.

"I can't get taken off this mission. That's ridiculous. How could she do that?"

"I don't know. I was just told this and you have to go see her now." Sakura said. She already knew that Naruto wouldn't take this well and she hoped that Lady Tsunade had a good reason for this cause he was not going to be calm when he got to that office.

"But, I..."

Kiba had gotten tired of this already and was ready to go. "You can't do anything about it Naruto. You might as well just go and see what she wants. Besides, Sakura and I have to go. We've wasted enough time here." he said, walking out of the gates with Akamaru at his side.

Sakura frowned at Kiba's back and then turned to Naruto. "Don't let him get to you. If the hokage wants you for another mission, it must be extremely important." she said, knowing that it would make her friend fell somewhat better about the situation.

Naruto sighed and slumped his shoulders. Sakura did have a point. But, he still didn't want to miss out on this mission. Oh well. "Guess I'll see you guys later then." he waved and walked off.

Sakura watched him go and then ran to catch up with Kiba's retreating form, keeping a small distance between them. With any other person, she have run up and hit them or yelled at them for being so rude to Naruto. He was her friend and over the years, she had become very protective of him. But, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do that right now. There was an odd feeling in the back of her mind that was stopping her.

Sure, Sakura was never one to get scared of anyone and she certainly wasn't afraid of Kiba. She just chopped it up to the fact that she didn't know him all that well ad this would be her first mission with him. Then again, when had that ever stopped her from doing what she wanted.

Sakura shook her head of the thoughts and just continued to follow, closing the gap between them a little to prove a point to herself. There was nothing she had to worry about and deep down, she knew it. It was probably just the stress of such an early morning bothering her. Right now, she had to focus.

Kiba, on the other hand, could do nothing but focus. There was this feeling rising inside of him that he didn't quiet recognize. Sakura's presence was really fucking with his mind right now. He felt this undying need to protect her. Sure, she was his only team mate, but he had never felt this strongly about it before. In fact, the fact that she was walking so far behind him was annoying.

It had to be because this was the first time that he had ever been on a mission with her. Also, this was the first time that he had ever been on a mission with just a single female period. Usually, he had another guy there to have his back. But with just a girl, and one who mainly specialized in healing, he felt obligated to be more protective of her. That had to be it.

**I didn't make many changes to this chapter, if any. It fit into the story so far as it was so I just went ahead and uploaded it. Hope you all enjoyed and please remember to review.**

**CYA!**


	5. Strange Actings

**CONGRATULATIONS! I am finally caught up to where I originally left off. For those of you that are new, this may not mean much, but for my veterans, this is what you have all been waiting so long for. After this chapter everything will be NEW! Remember to keep giving me those reviews cause they inspire me to keep going and I love it when I get feedback for my fics.**

**Chapter five**

The sun had risen high in the sky and the day had gradually gotten hotter. Sakura and Kiba had already been traveling non-stop for the past five hours and they were both tired and needing a rest, but neither person wanted to admit it. Akamaru had even given up walking and decided to just ride on his master's shoulder instead.

Kiba groaned and glanced back at Sakura after wiping some more sweat from his brow. The kunoichi had still decided to walk behind him and never got any closer. It was annoying, constantly checking to make sure she was still there. Come to think of it, this was the first time he had ever seen the girl so quiet. Sure, Kiba might not have socialized with her too much, but he knew that she was known for her attitude and women with attitude usually had a mouth to match it. Though, he was happy that she wasn't talking too much. He still had a weird feeling about her and could just not figure out what it was.

Sakura looked up just as Kiba looked away. She glared at his back. Ever since they left Konoha, he had been stealing glances at her and he always seemed like he was thinking while doing it. What the fuck! Was being stuck on this trip with her bothering him that much? She really wished Naruto was here. At least he would let her stop for a break once in a while. They had been walking forever. Though, there was no way that she was going to tell Kiba that she was tired. Like she needed him to view her as more of a burden.

Sakura sighed and brought her hand up to rub the side of her neck. There was still a slight pain there, but it didn't hurt as much anymore. She hadn't had the chance to take any medicine for it, but the pain had just subsided itself, ever since they left the village. At least she could be happy about that._"I hope we get to this village soon._"

"I think we should stop and let the girl rest." Akamaru whined from Kiba's shoulder. He could tell that she was exhausted from the way she was breathing, though, he doubted that his master was paying much attention.

"Are you serious?" Kiba scoffed. "We're only about five more hours away from the village. She can rest there."

"She won't make it there if we keep at this pace."

Kiba looked back at Sakura one last time to see what his companion was talking about. He saw her wipe her forehead and take a deep breath before continuing walking. Okay, she did look a little tired. He mentally sighed. As a good leader, he could not deprive his only team member time to regain her strength. Besides, in that condition, if something unexpected happened, she would be useless. Fine. They would stop at the nearest river to rest for about an hour and then they wouldcontinue the trip, straight to the village.

'Sakura!" Kiba called over his shoulder. The girl looked up at the sound of her name. "We're going to rest soon. There's a river nearby."

"Ok…Sure" Sakura really wanted to jump for joy, but she wouldn't give Kiba the satisfaction of seeing that. Still, the instant look of relief on her face didn't go unnoticed.

Kiba smirked. He had to say, he was impressed. Akamaru was right. Sakura was probably, with no better term to use, dog-tired. But she hadn't uttered a single complaint the whole trip. Last time Kiba had went on a mission with Ino and Tenten, they both had complained about the rain half the trip and then kept on insisting that they stop to rest every few hours. Sakura had said nothing and just bore with everything so far. Maybe they could rest for more than an hour.

"I don't get it! Why was I taken off the mission?"

Tsunade had tried to mentally prepare herself for her meeting with Naruto, but there was no way on earth to do that. The ninja was completely livid at having been cut from he and Sakura's mission. Even as he stood there, in the center, of her office and yelled, she could still not manage to think of a good excuse to tell him or a replacement mission to give him.

Tsunade groaned. She would just have to wing this and see what she came up with. "Listen, Naruto, I have other needs for you here in the village. Sakura and Kiba could handle that mission alone." Not the best thing she thought she would come up with on the spot.

"HA!" Naruto scoffed. "Like I believe that. I've been in this village all this time and nothing has happened. You're going to need a better excuse than that."

"_Great, the one time Naruto decides to think"_ Tsunade sighed. Telling him the truth was out of the question so she had to think of something to keep him busy. "I really need you to…to…"

"I need you to come and help me with some things, that is, if you don't mind."

Naruto and Tsunade looked to see Kakashi casually leaning against one of the windows, reading one of his books. He looked towards Naruto. "I feel like my training has been getting a little rusty lately, so I could really use a sparring partner."

Naruto eyed him and then looked back towards Tsunade. Kakashi added, "You might even get to learn some new techniques." He knew that would get the boys attention. No one jumped at the chance to learn a new skill quicker than Naruto. "Just go wait for me at training ground 7. I'll be there soon."

Naruto grinned and rushed out of the office, tossing a good bye wave and a 'you're off the hook this time' to Tsunade. She released a relieved sigh as soon as the blonde was out of sight and then looked back over to Kakashi.

"Thanks. I didn't know how I would get rid of him." She said.

Kakashi waved it off. "Well, I just thought I should step in before you cracked and told him the truth. That would have just caused you more trouble than needed.

Tsunade gasped. "How do you know?" This was not something that she wanted circulating around the village. Just how many other people knew?

"I'm the only other person that knows." Kakashi said as if reading her mind. "And don't worry, I won't tell."

"So how did you find out?" She was curious. Kakashi did have a weird habit of always sitting outside her windows or on the roof of the tower, but she just assumed that he was reading and not actually listening to anything that went on in the inside. Then again, he was a ninja and you could never take them at first glance.

Kakashi shrugged. "I make it my business to know what goes on with my former students from time to time. Now, I have to go and keep the knuckle head occupied for a while." He sighed and turned to leave. "Oh, and let Kiba know that if he hurts Sakura, I'll probably kill him." he added in a calm voice before disappearing.

Tsunade watched him go. She wasn't surprised at all. Kakashi had proven to be protective of his favorite three students at one time or another. Hell, even though he had hidden it well, she knew that Sasuke leaving had taken a big impact on him. He had treated the boy like his own son. Still, why would he say that about Kiba? Was he referring to him not being able to protect her on the mission?

Kakashi always appeared to know more than what he let on and this time, Tsunade felt that he did.

Kiba was right. There was a river less than ten minutes away from where they had been walking. As soon as the clear water came into view Akamaru leapt straight from his shoulder and dived in. Apparently, someone else had been more tired than he let on. Kiba took off his jacket and hung it on a nearby tree and set up a small temporary camp for him and Sakura. There was no need to rush, he decided. They could spare some more time and rest a little longer than planned. They were ahead of schedule anyway.

Akamaru came out of the water when he notice Kiba making a small fire pit. "So what are you doing?" he barked, waging his tail. It felt great to not be so hot and dry anymore.

"Preparing so we can make some food. Might as well eat while we rest." Kiba answered.

"You're going to cook?" Kiba never cooked when he was traveling with a kunoichi. He always left it up to them. He figured since he was protecting you, the least you could do was feed him. As stupid as it sounded to the dog, he had seen many of the females agree to it. He never knew how his master managed to do it.

"I might as well. Sakura probably won't be back too soon."

As soon as the river had come into view, Sakura had changed direction and continued walking. Kiba asked her where she was going. Apparently, walking around sweaty all day was not a good idea to her, so she wanted to go and take a bath. Lucky for her, since it was so hot out today, the water was actually warm enough for her to do that. Kiba still had not wanted to let her go, but he reasoned with himself that she was a kunoichi and could handle some low level thugs. Plus, he was within hearing distance anyway.

"I guess you're right." Akamaru said and then walked off.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kiba asked. "I wanted you to help me fish."

Akamaru yawned. "I'm going to go and check on Sakura. We could probably use the company since you shunned her the whole trip." After that, he ran off.

Kiba couldn't believe what he had just heard. His own best friend had chosen a girl over him. And, he was not shunning her. He just didn't have much to say to her for some reason. It wasn't from lack of words. He had come across plenty of conversation starters in his head while they were walking, just none of them seemed…good enough. Kiba shook his head of the thought. This was ridiculous. Who cares if they talked or not. They were on a mission, not a vacation, well he wasn't on a vacation. They were both just too focused to communicate. That's all.

Sakura sighed and leaned back, letting her head rest against a nearby rock. She had only been looking for a spot in the river that was far enough away from the camp, but she had lucked upon a hot springs instead. Even with the seemingly extreme heat outside, this was still relaxing for her. She ran her hands through her damp hair, pushing it out of her face and stared up at the cloudless sky.

She wondered how much longer they had until they got to the village. Only Kiba had read the map. She was even more curious about the mission itself. This was the first time she had never known her mission objective. It was strange and kind of confusing. Also, the quicker they got this over with, the sooner they could go back to Konoha.

It wasn't like Sakura minded being on a mission alone with Kiba. He just gave her weird vibes that she couldn't explain. He didn't even talk to her. They just walked. Sure, he looked at her from time to time, but there was always a weird look on his face when he did. It made her feel even weirder. What was he always thinking about?

Sakura was broken from her thoughts when she heard some rustling in the bushes. She looked in the direction the noise had come from. "Who's there?" She was relieved to see Akamaru come walking out of the brush, his tail wagging.

"Hey boy. What are you doing here?" she asked and lifted the dog into the water with her. Akamaru barked and licked her face. Sakura giggled. "You're a lot friendlier than your master."

Sakura smiled when the dog whined and tilted his head as if asking what she meant. "I don't think Kiba is too fond of me. He hasn't even talked to me at all. He just stares and walks." Akamaru barked and licked her again for reassurance. He made a mental note to tell Kiba about this later.

Sakura stood up and stepped out of the water, setting Akamaru down on the bank. She quickly dried off and got dressed, deciding that she had spent enough time here. Besides, she wanted to get back and have time to cook something to eat before Kiba tried to force her to walk another thousand miles. "Let's go Akamaru. I know you have to be as hungry as I am." she called over her shoulder to the dog that trailed happily behind her.

Kiba had just finished cooking the five fish that he had managed to catch and was already laying them out on plates when Sakura and Akamaru walked back into camp. He put two on his plate and two on Sakura's, leaving the last for Akamaru. The dog happily went to eat beside his master while Sakura took her plate and set on the other side of the fire.

The group lapsed into an awkward silence. Kiba wasn't sure what it was, but he felt way too weird around her. The whole time she was away, he had a hint of worry In the back of his mind and now that she was back, he felt oddly relieved. Though, she was his team member, so he should be worried about her and want her to be safe right? That's what it had to be.

Sakura was having her own mental battle. The silence was killing her. She was really starting to think that Kiba didn't like her. But, why did that thought bother her so much? She never really hung out with Kiba anyway. They were more passing acquaintances than actual friends. Maybe that was it. Maybe she was just uncomfortable being in the middle of the forest with someone who she didn't know so well. She was making the situation more awkward than it actually was. Perhaps, she was the reason for all the silence and not Kiba.

"This fish is delicious. Thanks for cooking it Kiba." Sakura tried to break the ice.

Kiba looked over at her, somewhat startled that she had actually spoken. "Uh, it's no prob. Figured you could use it to regain your energy." he said and then went back to eating his fish.

"_Well, that went well." Sakura sarcastically thought._

Akamaru stopped eating and looked at Kiba. "We need to talk about something. Come with me." he said and walked off into the brush. Kiba stared after him for a moment before standing up and muttering a 'be right back' to Sakura and following him.

Akamaru stopped far enough away from Sakura to talk to Kiba. "The girl thinks you don't like her. You should try talking to her more." he barked.

Kiba just stared at his friend. "She doesn't talk to me, besides, what does it matter to her if I like her or not?"

Akamaru sighed. "Think about it. She's on a mission with you and you barely talk to her, her best friend got cut from the mission, and she's lonely." Sometimes, he wondered which was really the smarter of the species.

Back at camp, Sakura was trying her best not to read too much into the sudden retreat, but she just couldn't help it. They were a team, right? There shouldn't be secrets! Also, this whole not talking thing was starting to piss her off. She was Sakura Haruno and here she was acting scared and Kiba. Hell no! It was time to regain her confidence and say something to that dog nin.

"_No time like the present."_Sakura thought when she noticed him coming back into the camp. She stood up, hands on her hips and took a deep breath, preparing her tirade. "Listen up, I…"

"Look, I'm sorry if it appears I've been ignoring you. I meant nothing by it." Kiba apologized, stopping her in mid-sentence. He waited for a reply, but all she did was stare at him. "Hello, are you still with me here?"

Sakura quickly shook her head to regain her composure. "Yeah…It's ok. Apology accepted." Sakura wasn't sure what it was, but at that moment, the pain in her neck flared back up for a split second and then disappeared again. She brought her hand up to subconsciously touch it.

Kiba looked away and licked his fangs. He wasn't sure what it was, but he had felt something too. It was new but familiar. He just shrugged it off to the fact that he hated apologizing and any time he had to do it felt weird.

But, both of their actions did not go unnoticed by Akamaru…

**Wow, I tried to make this chapter long enough for you guys. It felt really good to be updating after such a long time. I hope this chapter was what all of you wished for and you guys will leave me lots of reviews to let me know what you think.**

**R&R PLEEZE**


	6. Moving Forward

**I send everyone my deepest apologies for not updating in so long. Things have been more than crazy in my life and I've been in a real funk. So, to cheer myself up, I've decided to cheer you all up and try to get back on top of my updating.**

Disclaimer: I own the fic. That is all

**Chapter 6**

After eating, Kiba decided that he and Sakura should cover as much ground as they could before the day ended. The village that they were supposed to reach was not far off, but traveling at night was something that he wanted to avoid at all cost. It would make them vulnerable and not knowing what the mission entailed, they weren't sure what they could be walking into. Though, they had traveled a lot faster than he thought. At this pace, they would reach the village just before sunset.

"We're too close. Let's not stop to camp and just keep going" he said. He looked back to make sure that Sakura had heard him.

Things had gotten better since their talk during the last stop. Kiba had been being more conscious of Sakura's presence and making small talk with her from time to time. Sakura had also closed a substantial amount of the distance between them and was no longer hanging so far back.

"That's fine with me." Sakura answered. She was walking with Akamaru resting in her arms. She had gotten fond the white dog. It was almost like he understood what she was saying.

Sakura wasn't sure what to make of everything that had happened so far. Sure, things had gotten pretty better between them which was good, considering they were team mates on a mission. But there was still an unsettling feeling between them; at least for her. She couldn't quite put her hand on it, but something was off.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Sakura asked, speeding up her pace to be next to the dog nin.

Kiba looked at her sideways. "Sure."

"What do you think is going to happen with this mission? Doesn't it bother you not to know anything about it?" Sakura looked up at the sky, thinking to herself for a second. "This could be a set up and we, nor the hokage, would even know."

Kiba smirked. "I had been thinking that since we left the village. Not being able to know the mission just doesn't sit well with me either." Kiba had to admit. She was more perceptive than he gave her credit for. The other female ninjas would have just followed and never offered any type of opinion. Ino and Hinata had proven themselves to be just travel baggage more than team mates on numerous occasions.

"Do you think that…we might be in danger?" she asked.

"Are you afraid?" Kiba asked.

Sakura shook her head. Being in danger was the life of a ninja. She was taught that for every mission, she would have to learn to walk away from the village as if she would never see it again. Yes, it was incredibly hard to walk away from the people that you cared so much about and think that you would never see them again, but it was her duty. She was sure that Kiba felt the same way if not more.

"I'm never afraid. I just don't let my guard down when something doesn't look right." she answered matter-of-factly

Kiba chuckled which caused Sakura to toss a glare his way. For some reason, she felt like he was underestimating her. Kiba smirked. "Calm down. I mean no harm by anything."

Akamaru barked and growled a little at him to stop pestering the young girl and take her seriously. "You're about to undo so much progress." he warned his master.

Kiba nodded, thinking to himself. He really didn't want things to go back to how they started odd. Kiba cleared his throat. "Look, I tend to try and think of every mission as my last or a trap. This one in no different. It just makes me stay on my toes more, keep my senses tight and protect my team mates better."

Sakura raised a brow. "So you feel as though you have to protect me?" she smiled. "I was trained by Tsunade. I may end up protecting you." she said half jokingly.

Kiba stared ahead for a second. He almost laughed out loud at the thought, but caught himself just in time. Hmm, maybe she would protect him, though he would do everything in his power to keep from being caught in such a situation. No need to ruin the moment and say that though.

"You might be right." Giving her a compliment was much easier.

The two of them then fell into a comfortable silence and continued moving. They would make statements at each other occasionally or ask a question, but there was no steady flow of conversation. Akamaru just continued to relax in Sakura's arms and watch the exchange.

When this trip first started, the two of them didn't say anything to each other and now it seemed like they were friends. They were progressing with each other very well, almost too well. Kiba might have taken his mind off of the situation, but Akamaru hadn't. Somewhere Kiba had a mate and the possibility of it being this girl was just as good as anyone else. Besides, he had to admit that Sakura was a pretty likable girl. He wouldn't mind it being her.

Right now was not the time to say anything to Kiba though. He didn't feel the need to make this situation any more awkward than it already was. If she was the one, being together this much would start showing some signals pretty soon anyway. There was no way any Inuzuka male, especially the alpha, could be so close to his female and have the need to be with her.

Tsunade was finally able to get back into the flow of her work and take her mind off of the issue at hand. At least, she was until something else came up. And that something was not going to be as avoidable as before. Shizune looked over at her with her head hung in shame. There was nothing she could do.

"Look, I have already told you, there is nothing that I can do." she looked at the glaring figure before her desk. "There is no need for you to help"

Naruto could not believe what he was hearing. No need for him to help! The mission had been his idea in the first place and she was just going to boot him off of it. Off of his own mission!

"Look old lady, I am not leaving."

It turns out that Kakashi didn't need his help with anything. He just took him to the training ground and say there and read his pervy books. Every time Naruto tried to leave, he would just ask him to perform some meaningless task. Naruto knew something was u when his task was to find the black pebble by the river. Even he wasn't that stupid.

Tsunade made a mental not to kill Kakashi after Naruto had told her that story. He was a ninja for god's sake. He couldn't figure out how to keep one person preoccupied for a while. "Look," she began, going to try and reason again. "There is no need for you to be there. The two of them are capable enough to keep everything under control."

The blonde just glared even harder, his blue eyes piercing. Even Shizune had never seen the boy so serious. "I am going on this mission. It was supposed to be our way of getting out together."

Tsunade wasn't really sure what to say or how to handle this. There was no way that Naruto could find out the situation between Kiba and Sakura, well, the possible situation. She was still holding onto the hope that it wasn't her. Anyway, he wouldn't be as understanding as she was.

Dealing with clans, especially those as old as the Inuzuka was something that took a delicate hand. There were the laws of the village and then there were the laws of the clans and occasionally they clashed. As the hokage, she had to uphold the laws of the village, but had to right to interfere with the laws of the clans. And this was definitely one of those delicate times.

"Look, I'm not sending you on this mission. They've already left and will be returning soon. It would be pointless at this point." Tsunade tried to explain.

"But….This isn't-"

Shizune came up with a way to hopefully appease Naruto and cut him off. "How about we send you on the next mission?"

Tsunade looked at her, shocked that she would even suggest this considering the situation and Naruto looked as though he were considering this.

"We have another mission already lined up for Kiba, so you can accompany him on that. Though, Sakura will be returning to work so she won't be going."

Naruto thought for a second. He really did want to go on a mission with Sakura, but at least getting to accompany Kiba would be just as good. Hell, for a chance to get out of the village, he would even go so far as to accompany Lee.

"Sure, I guess I can settle for that."

"Excellent." Shizune smiled. "I will send for you when it is time." She said and led Naruto out of Tsunade's office.

Once the door was closed everyone sighed. That had ended way better than any of them thought possible. Though, there was still the issue at hand that Tsunade just could not ignore. She looked over at her assistant, glaring.

"You know why we have to send Kiba on these missions. Why would you jeopardize it?"

Shizune swallowed and prepared her answer, hoping that it would make as much sense as it did in her head. "You see, Naruto is closer to Sakura than any of the other girls. Sending him on a mission with Ino or something would be the equivalent of sending him with Kiba and….Lee. There's no way he can mess this up."

Tsunade thought this over. She had a point. With no heavy emotional tie, there really was a slim chance that Naruto would ruin anything. This also would get him out of the village for a while and out of her office too. Shizune had a point.

"I guess you're right." Tsunade admitted. "But if this backfires, I'm telling Tsume that it was your plan to involve Naruto." she added with a wicked smile.

Shizune chuckled, nervously. "Heh heh….ok"

**OK, that was just a quick chapter to get back into my writing. Sorry that it was so short, but I promise to make the next one extra long. Feels good to be back in the flow. And I really do apologize for everyone who has been waiting.**

So, make sure you review and keep reading. Lol, I have nothing to do all weekend but write. So look for another chapter later tonight.


	7. Vacation All I Never Wanted

**Found another moment to have some free time and work on my fic. So here is another chapter for my fans. I am going to try to make this very long and good for you guys. I noticed that things are moving pretty well, but I think that I'll give you all a little treat with this one ENJOY**

**Chapter 7**

"Welcome!"

Kiba and Sakura were both a little put off when they were greeted at the front of the village by the head, s chubby man with a mustache and glasses who seemed more than happy to see them. Kiba was more put off at the fact that the man was already standing there before they even reached the village, like he had been waiting for them.

"It's nice to meet you. We're from Konoha." Sakura announced and both she and Kiba bowed politely to the man.

"I have been expecting the both of you." the head announced. "My name is Hataro." He didn't bother to introduce the two guards that were standing next to him. "And welcome to my village, Teiryu"

Teriryu was a prosperous village on the border. Being where it was, it got so much traffic and was doing very well for itself. It was also known as a big spot for tourist because of the spas, shopping, and nightlife.

"It's our pleasure to be here. We hope that we are able to assist you with whatever problems you may be having." Kiba said. He reached into his sack and handed the scroll to Hataro who looked it over.

"Ahh, very good." he said taking the scroll and, much to both their dismay, passing it off to one of his guards. "We will have plenty of time to get to business. First, I must give you the grand tour of my village."

Hataro turned and led the group through the wooden gates that were open, his arms spread wide to show the magnificent village off to them. Sakura had to admit, this place was amazing. It wasn't as big as Konoha, but it was flashy. She couldn't help but to stare at the magnificent structures of buildings and such as they walked.

Sakura looked over at Kiba and saw that he was far more composed than she was. Sure he was looking at everything, but more in a way of observing his surrounds than he was admiring. Oh yea, they were still on a mission she thought and regained herself.

"The village is separated into districts by attractions." Hataro explained as he lead the way in. "There are four districts; A, B, C and D."

Kiba and Sakura were making mental noted of this. "What do the districts represent?" Kiba asked. From what he could tell so far, the street that entered the village was the main street. It seemed to stretch the farthest and everything else was built around it.

"District A is for the nightlife. There you will find clubs and bars and such. District B is for shopping. We are famous for our many boutiques and interesting styles." Hataro exclaimed proudly.

Sakura mentally sighed. Not to be a girl or anything, but she was really wishing that she had come here with more money and wasn't on a mission. This place was awesome. A girls trip for herself, Ino, Tenten and Hinata was definitely in the works.

"District C is for leisure. That is where you find your spas and other shops for the children. District D is the living section. The homes and apartment buildings are there."

The makeup of the village was too hard for the two nin to remember. "Do mind me asking where do you reside?" Sakura asked.

Hataro smiled and looked back at her. "We shall be arriving at my home soon enough. It is right down the road we are on."

Just like he said, it wasn't long until what seemed to be the biggest building in the village came into view. It was located at the very back of the village. Sakura didn't show it, and she was sure Kiba felt the same, but she was even more awed by the structure. It was made of stone and had two pillars in the front. It looked like it would be huge on the inside.

Hataro led them up to the doors, where his guards fell back and took up post; one in front of each pillar. Hataro made sure the retrieve the mission scroll from them. He opened the double door and they entered what was the main entrance. There was a lady standing there and she smiled warmly and bowed at their arrival.

"Welcome Master Hataro and guest." she said in a soft voice.

"This is my assistant Maio. She will be able to help you with anything you need while you are here."

Maio was a thin woman with a well shaped body. She had long auburn hair that was pulled into a high pony tail in the back. Her eyes were a piercing blue. She was extremely beautiful. Kiba couldn't help but to stare. He had never seen such a beautiful woman. _Yes you have._He looked sideways at Sakura, comparing the two. Her pink hair and emerald eyes were pretty exotic. He also noticed how she had started to let her hair grow back and it was starting to reach down her back again; still not caught up to what it used to be.

"Are you ok?" Sakura glanced over and noticed Kiba staring at her, thought, it was more like he was staring through her.

Kiba shook his head and brought himself back to reality. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." he apologized and walked away, following Hataro and Mai. _Where did those thoughts come from?_Why did he care what Sakura looked like? That was…odd.

Sakura shrugged and also followed. Maybe he just happened to be looking in her direction, but was just lost in thought. Hmm…That stare sent shivers down her spine for some odd reason. She wasn't sure what the feeling was. It was…different.

Maio led them into a room that appeared to be an office or study. Hataro took his seat behind the large desk in the room and Maio went to stand beside him. He motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk. Kiba and Sakura sat down. Akamaru rested in Sakura's lap.

Hataro pulled out the scroll and unrolled it, reading it to himself. Kiba and Sakura watched as his eyes scanned over the words and, both wishing that they knew what was going on. Maio was also reading the scroll and looked quite amused they noticed.

Finally, after what felt like forever, he was done reading. He rolled up the scroll and placed it into a side drawer on his desk and smiled.

"Well, I certainly am glad to have you here. Tsunade is an old friend of mine. It is such a pleasure to have two shinobi form the Leaf village here."

"It really is. You two are the first." Maio added.

"Thank you." Sakura answered. She smiled. "So, what exactly is our mission?" she asked.

"Yeah, we weren't really briefed on anything." Kiba added. He was eager to get to work.

"So, you don't know?" Hataro asked. The smile he had was something Kiba couldn't read but felt uneasy about.

"We were not permitted to read the scroll." Sakura announced.

Hataro cleared his throat. "Your mission is to enjoy yourself and report your opinion to the hokage. Apparently Tsunade would like to set up a vacation spot for the shinobi there. She wants you two to give your personal opinion on the village."

Both of their mouths almost hit the ground at this news. There was no mission? No enemy? No threat? This was a…a

"So, what you are trying to tell me is…"Kiba started.

Maio finished his statement. "Yup, this is a vacation!"

He could not believe that Tsunade had sent him and Sakura to another village to relax. Hadn't they done enough of that in Konoha? Wasn't that the reason for the mission in the first place? This was the dumbest shit he had ever seen in his entire ninja life.

Sakura on the other hand was taking this much better than he was. Hell, a free vacation. She was not going to complain about this one. She had wanted to get to see the village ever since she walked into it. Might as well enjoy herself. Sakura smiled, mentally thanking Tsunade.

"We will be allowing the both of you to reside here in my home." Hataro said. "All attractions are free to the both of you; clubs, casino, spa, food, everything."

This was getting better and better. Though, Kiba was no feeling the same way. "Sorry if I sound rude, but I did not come here to just sit around and relax." Kiba announced and stood from his seat.

Maio watched him, confused. "Is there something wrong with our village?"

Sakura jumped up before Kiba could say anything to ruin relation between the two villages. "He means that we requested a mission because we had been doing nothing already. I vacation was not needed." she smiled, genuinely.

Hataro took no hard feelings to Kiba's outburst. "I understand, but you might as well enjoy yourself while you're here."

He stood from his desk and walked around to the door, making sure to shake Kiba and Sakura's hands before opening it. "Maio will show you to you rooms and provide you with anything needed. I have other matters to attend to. Enjoy." And with that, he was gone.

Maio smiled and headed for the door also. "Come with me, our room is this way." She walked out of the room.

Kiba and Sakura looked between each other and then took up a steady pace behind her. They were both too lost in their own minds to notice how beautiful the home that they were in was. Kiba was too preoccupied cursing Tsunade for doing this to him. What made her think he wanted to go from one village being bored to the other? Sakura was more wondering about what she would do first. A spa trip sounded nice. Or shopping.

"Here we are."

The two were pulled from their minds when Maio stopped walking stood in front of a set of rather large doors. "This will be your room. Enjoy." She said and walked away, leaving two even more confused nin in her wake.

There was only one room? They opened the doors to a beautiful suite that had only one large bed.

Sakura swallowed. "So..uh…where are you sleeping?" She asked Kiba and went to sit on the side of the bed. She made sure to stake her claim cause there was no way she was taking the floor.

Kiba caught on to what she was doing. "In the bed…Where else." He announced and walked over to his own side of the bed, setting his bag on it. Did she think that just because she was a female that he would give her the bed? Ha!

"You're not sleeping in the bed with me! So move!" Sakura ordered, her fist clenching in the process as her anger built.

Akamaru saw where this was going and was half worried and half amused. He walked and sat in front of the bed, his tail wagging as he watched the exchange between the two of them.

Kiba had to bite back the urge to assert his dominance over this female who just dared to give him a command. It was hard for him to remember that the Inuzaka way did not apply to everyone. Had this been a clan female, she'd be regretting it by now. Instead, he had another idea.

Sakura lifted a brow as she watched his frown turn into a cocky smirk. That look angered her even more. "What the fuck is so amusing?" she hissed.

Kiba chuckled. "You scared to share a bed with another male? Will this be your first time?"

Sakura couldn't hide the shade of red of spread across her face even if she wanted to. She was, at the moment, utterly speechless. Did he really just insinuate that she was a…ok, well she was….but still. Her eyes just stared at the triumphant grin he held.

"You…I-I…." What could she say?

Kiba saw that he had gained the upper hand and decided to use this to his advantage. "Don't worry Sakura, I don't mind being your first." he added.

That was it, Sakura was not going to stand here and take this. This bed was not that important. Hell, in a house this large, she was sure that there were plenty more. Kiba watched as she straightened herself, her fist clenched, and turn and marched towards the door.

"Giving up?" he asked, amused that he had gotten her so riled up.

Sakura threw one last glare over her shoulder before opening the door. "FUCK YOU!" she screeched and stormed out the room, slamming the door behind here.

Kiba just stared after her, his eyes leveled with the wood of the door in the spot where she had just been standing.

Akamaru took this moment to jump onto the prized bed and curled in the middle.

"Well, congratulations. You have an empty bed and are back a square one." he said with a yawn.

Kiba looked at his companion. "What are you talking about? It's not like I care."

"So you didn't want to get closer to her?" the dog asked. He knew when his master was in denial and this was one of those times.

Kiba scoffed and looked away. What did it matter if they were close or not. This had already proven not to be a real mission so no need for team work. They could both just go about their business until it was time to head back. It wasn't like they were going to go and hang out with each other.

Akamaru could tell the mental battle that Kiba was having at the moment. "Fine. I'm sure that there are other rooms here for her to sleep in."

"Right." Kiba agreed."

"Besides, in a town like this, she is sure to be popular and probably won't even need a room here if she meets someone." Akamaru added nonchalantly, eyeing Kiba.

"Liked I'd let that happ-…" Kiba stopped himself mid-sentence. He didn't have any say in what Sakura did. So, why even care? He was the team captain so his job was to protect her. Was that it? Yeah, that had to be it. There was no other way to explain it.

_Just as I thought._Akamaru yawned and drifted off to sleep, a grin on his face. This indeed was going to be an interesting trip. And didn't he have good news for Tsume when they got back.

Sakura stormed down the hall cursing every god she could think of. Fuck her earlier thoughts. This was a vacation that she definitely did not want. Who knew that Kiba could be so damn.._Sexy_...Annoying!

She stopped in her tracks. Where did that thought come from? She subconsciously brought her hand up to hold her neck, another pain shooting through it.

"What's wrong with me?" Ok, maybe admitting that Kiba was sexy wasn't that bad. There was nothing wrong with judging men. She could easily admit that guys were attractive. For instance, Shikamaru was attractive, Neji was attractive, and she wouldn't touch Lee if hell froze over. See, she could judge guys and be ok with it.

"Are you alright Ms. Sakura?"

Sakura looked up to see Maio rounding one of the corners, a concerned look in her eyes. "Is there something wrong?"

Sakura forced herself to fully come back to reality. "Well, I was wondering if you had any other rooms that I could stay in." she asked.

Maio looked surprised. "Is there something wrong with your current room? I don't mind moving the both of you."

"No, I would like a room on my own." she clarified.

"Why do you no want to stay with your….boyfriend…husband?"

Sakura's eye twitched. "Excuse me?" Did she really just refer to that asshole as anything close to her?

"I apologize. I thought the two of you were together." Maio said. "I meant no harm." She couldn't understand why the hokage would send the two of them on a vacation together if they weren't together.

"It's ok." Sakura said. For some reason she didn't take too much offense to her assumption. "Just take me to an extra room."

"Of course. Right this way." Maio said and started leading her in a new direction. Sakura instinctively followed.

Her mind was going a mile a minute. First she slips and says that Kiba was sexy and now people were thinking that they were a couple. Why were the gods doing this to her life? Where had she gone wrong?

"So, mind if I ask you something?" Maio said.

Sakura nodded. She had no problem with questions.

Maio smiled. "Are you anything to Mr. Kiba?"

"Well…not really…We are just partners." she answered, wondering where this conversation was leading.

The two of them stopped in front of another pair of doors. Maio turned to face her and bowed. "This will be your new room. Have a nice night." she said and turned to leave.

Sakura was about to enter the room, but stopped. She just had to know.

"Mind me asking why you wanted to know that information?" she called to the retreating girl.

Maio stopped and turned to look at her, her smile even bigger now. "Because, I can ask him out now." she announced happily and continued on her way.

**This might be the longest chapter so far. Whoo-Hoo! Well, I hope all of you enjoyed and will remember to review because knowing what my fans think is what inspires me to keep pushing forward. My goal is to reach 50 reviews by chapter 10, so help me make this happen.  
I also hope you guys enjoyed the extra kiba/sakura moments I added. I know you all wanted to see a little advancement with this relationship so I fed your hunger…a little.**

CYA


	8. You Found Me

**Ok found more time to work on yet another chapter. Sorry if my chapters are so inconsistent. I'm using someone else's laptop and won't have a new one until I am able to order mine in about a week…But don't worry, when I finally do get it, I will have a lot of updates and new works for you guys to check out. Can't wait to get my new baby 3  
Anyway, I'm glad to see so many people reviewing and leaving their thoughts. You guys really don't know how it warms me to check my email and see so many notifications. I feel so loved! And we are almost at my goal of !50!**

Well, keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying and I will do my best to keep delivering On with the chapter!

Chapter 8

"I wonder what types of things they have to do around here."

Sakura wandered through the streets that were lit with street lights and watched as crowds of people bustled from place to place. She had never seen a village so alive at night. There really was something for everyone to do here. She had already passed numerous bars, clubs, and a casino.

After getting situated into her new room, Sakura had decided to go out for some air. She needed to get out of that place and away from Kiba. She was still fuming from earlier. She had tried to sneak away, but Maio had caught her and insisted that she hang with her. After denying the girls offer numerous times, Sakura finally caved in and agreed to let her show her the city.

Sakura sighed and glanced at the girl that was walking a little ways in front of her and talking adamantly about everything they passed. Not only had she insisted on taking her out, she had also almost forced her into some clothes that she said were more 'appropriate' for the night scene.

Maio had chosen for her to wear a blue jean skirt and a black tube top with matching heel boots. Her hair was brushed out and some of it was pulled into a messy pony tail at the back while the rest frames her face. She had even done her makeup and put on just enough liner and shadow to accent her emerald eyes more. Sakura had to admit, even Ino had not done this well when dressing her up. But she still felt out of place in the clothes.

"I have an idea. How about we go to the Blaze? It's the most popular club in the village." Maio exclaimed, yelling a bit to be heard over the crowds.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and half smiled. She figured there was no need to not try and enjoy her vacation, though things had been failing so far. "Sure we can do that."

Maio smiled. "Awesome. It's this way." She said and grabbed Sakura's hand pulling her through the crowds.

Kiba was on the other side of the village with Akamaru. He had decided to find a ramen shop and relax. The night had been pretty boring so far. When he went to check and see how Sakura was doing, she was already gone. Curious as to where she went, he too decided to check out the village and figured that he would bump into her somewhere.

"Man this place is fucking huge. So crowded." he murmured to himself.

"Yeah, makes it kind of hard to spot Sakura in all of this." Akamaru stated, hanging from his usual shoulder spot.

"Yeah you're-…Cut it out!" Kiba exclaimed and caught himself. He was so sick of Akamaru and his constant attraction to Sakura.

"Just saying, it might be bad to leave her in all of this. Too many strange people that she doesn't know." the dog explained.

"I'm sure that she can handle herself." Kiba said. He wasn't giving in to Akamaru's games.

He was not going to go chasing after the girl. She's the one who decided to leave without telling anyone where she was gong even though he was still the leader of this mission…vacation, or whatever it was. Regardless, anything she got herself into she could get herself out of.

"Fine." Akamaru sighed. "Her trouble is her trouble." he stated bored. "Not like there could be any possible threat hiding or anything."

Kiba stopped to think and inwardly groaned. He hated his companion sometimes and the sense he made. They were ninja; taught to always be on guard and expect the worse. Even if this mission had turned out to be a bust, they were still in unknown territory.

"Fuck!" he griped and changed his direction. As much as he hated it, he needed to at least assure himself that she was ok.

_"It's for the good of the mission."_ he thought to himself…_I do want her to be safe though. _Kiba shook his head. These random thoughts were really getting annoying.

Maio continued to pull Sakura through the crowds until they were finally at what she said was club Blaze. It was the largest club that Sakura had seen and had the most people lined up outside of it.

"Look at that line. We'll never get in." Sakura said, not wanting to wait for so long and not as disappointed as she tried to sound. She would much rather just go back to the house and sleep.

Maio chuckled. "Don't worry. You're with royalty here." She said with a wink and lead them straight to the door.

There was this man standing there with his arms folded and the meanest scowl a person could have. Sakura swallowed as they approached him and he looked at them. He was large, but not in a fat kind of way. It was more muscle bulk. His hair was medium and kind of spiky and his black bangs contrasted his golden eyes perfectly. Ok, Sakura had to admit, this man was hot!

"Yo! Hey Maio. What's up tonight?" the man waved when they finally reached him.

"Nothing much." Maio said and pushed Sakura in front of her. "This is my friend. She's new in town. Mind letting us in?"

"Hello. I'm Alistair." The man introduced himself. He took Sakura's hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

Sakura blushes at his forwardness. "Uh…yeah…hi" she stuttered.

"Stop romancing and just open the door." Maio smiled.

"As you wish my lovely ladies." Alistair smiled at Sakura and moved to hold the door open for the two ladies. "See you both on the inside." he said as Sakura passed and winked at her.

"I knew you would be popular with the guys here. You're a change of pace around here." Maio said.

The club was filled with loud music, people dancing, and flashing lights. It was nothing like the mediocre clubs in Konoha. This was definitely a whole new level. Sakura also noticed all of the heads that turned as she and Maio walked through the crowd. Was she really that noticeable? It had to be her pink hair. That had always made her look more exotic than she actually was, from what Ino had said.

Maio led Sakura to a booth that was positioned farther towards the back of the club, away from the crowd and noise. They took their seats and was instantly greeted by another young man, this one equally as attractive, that was their server.

"Names Remy. What can I get you two tonight?" he asked and smirked in Sakura's direction.

Wow was she going to have to deal with this all night? Sure any other girl would be happy that men are throwing themselves at her, but Sakura was not feeling it so much. "I'll have whatever's got flavor." she said. She wasn't one for drinking and unflavored alcohol was just plain disgusting to her.

Maio spoke for the both of them. "We'll both have an amaretto sour. Pitcher."

"Coming right up." Remy said and left the table.

Maio smiled. "The girls in here go crazy for that server. You are so lucky that he looked at you. No one almost ever even gets his name."

Sakura already could feel that this was going to be a long night. And once again, she was cursing Tsunade for this vacation.

Kiba was getting sick and tired of this place already. He had changed direction and walked back towards the area where all the bars and clubs were, knowing that Sakura was most likely somewhere in the place. He knew instantly when he was in the right area. It was crowded and he could barely get through the street without someone bumping into him. Kiba was getting irritated quickly. He just wanted to find Sakura and get back to the house.

"This looks like it's going to be impossible. I can't even pick up her scent." Akamaru whined.

"Oh no. Don't complain now. You wanted to look for her remember." Kiba snapped. He knew he should have just disregarded that she was gone.

Ok he had to stop and think. He needed to find Sakura's scent. Kiba stopped walking and closed his eyes. He had to focus. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. Where was Sakura's scent? He could smell all the alcohol, the sweat of people who were moving about and dancing, and the cheap perfume of all the females.

Kiba inhaled again. There had to be something familiar that he could catch on to. There was food, cigar smoke…and…Maio. Kiba caught the scent of Hataro's assistant. And, just as he hoped, Sakura was with her.

"Got her." he smiled and took off in the direction that the scents were leading him. Akamaru held tighter just to keep from falling off. Luckily, the two of them were not far off. He was led to a building called Blaze, which turned out to only be a few blocks away. The place was packed and the people out front seemed over eager to get in.

Sakura was in there. He had found her. Now he had to convince her to come back with him. Kiba sighed and started towards the building. If worse came to worse, he could just pull rank on her and force her to. One, he was not leaving her here, in a strange place, with all these random people around. And two, as much as he hated to admit it, he did feel like he should say something about what happened between them earlier. Maybe Akamaru was right and he was in the wrong in that situation.

Sakura sipped her drink and continued to listen to Maio go on and on about Kiba. She really wished that someone would shoot her right now. She had come out to forget the dog nin, not hear his name every five minutes. Luckily, she was on her 4th cup of this drink and the more she drank, the more she was able to ignore the girl before her.

"So, what is Kiba like? You live near him. You must know something." Maio pried.

Sakura sighed and took another swallow. "What do you want to know?" she asked, completely uninterested in the conversation.

"Well, what is his personality like?" Maio had only seen him in Hataro office and he was in his ninja mode so not much about who he really is could be found out.

Sakura thought for a second. Hmm, how to describe Kiba's personality? _Sexily arrogant, dominant, and manly. _What the fuck! Sakura shook her head and hurried and answered to get her mind off of the thoughts.

"He's an arrogant, bossy, ass that has no manners." she rushed out and then swallowed the rest of the drink in her glass.

Maio stared. "I'm guessing you and him aren't the closes of friends."

"Hardly. I'd be ok with not seeing him anymore."

"I think Kiba is super sexy. I can't wait to see him again." Maio sighed.

Sakura stood and slammed her glass down on the table. "I'm sorry but I need to go to the restroom." she lied and stormed away from the table, leaving a confused Maio in her wake.

Sakura wasn't sure what it was, but she was pissed and sick of hearing her go on and on about Kiba. It wasn't even the fact that the subject was Kiba. It was the way she was talking about him. Obviously the girl should the decency not to start chasing a man who is already traveling ALONE with another girl. So what if they weren't a couple. It was the principle of the situation.

Sakura stopped walking and took a seat at the bar. What was she getting so worked up about anyway? Her hand subconsciously came up to her neck where there was another slight pulse of pain. She felt so…different. Almost like she was missing something. None of this was making any sense to her.

"I must be losing my mind."

"Could have told you that."

Sakura sighed and let her head fall in her hands. Great, now she was hearing things. "This night couldn't get any worse."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kiba stood behind Sakura at the bar. Like he thought, once inside, spotting her out of the crowd had been fairly easy thanks to that bubblegum hair of hers. He waited for a second and watched as she sat down. She looked like she didn't feel too good, but she was probably a little drunk considering where they were.

"Hey, are you ok?" Kiba asked.

Sakura whirled around and was more than surprise to see him. She had thought she was imagining things for a second and was going to curse her mind again for playing these tricks. Part of her wanted to scream because after having to listen to Maio talk about him nonstop, she now had to deal with him in person. Though, another part of her was almost happy to see the asshole for some reason.

"Yeah I'm fine." Sakura managed. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." _SHIT!_ Kiba did not mean to say that. Though, he was looking for her, so why lie. "I found you gone and was curious as to where you went." he corrected. That didn't sound much better, but at least it wasn't so forward.

"Oh. Well, I was just about to head back anyway. Apparently I stand out too much here and it's kind of annoying." Sakura stated in a bored tone.

She moved to stand up but faltered and almost fell, but Kiba caught her at the last second. His arm was around her waist as she leaned into his chest, trying to regain her bearings. Sakura blushed at the close contact. She couldn't believe that really just happened and now she was in his arms and against his chest, which she could feel extremely fine through the shirt he was wearing.

If Kiba weren't Kiba, he would have blushed. But Sakura wasn't the first girl he had held in his arms. But he did have to admit, she was the first that smelt and felt so good. It was like nature after a thunderstorm. Her scent was calming and wild at the same time. It made him feel calm, but still like he had the energy to take on everyone in this club.

"Uh…I…I'm just going to go ahead and walk back to the house." Sakura stuttered. Talk about an embarrassing moments.

"Kiba grabbed her arm to keep her from stumbling pass him. "I'll walk with you. I can't let you wander around in that condition.

Sakura was about to protest until she looked up at him and saw the look that left no room for discussion. "I don't care." she said with a defeated sigh. They stayed at the same location so why not.

Leaving the club, Kiba forced Sakura to lean on him for support. It was easier since Akamaru had opted to bail on the both of them. He said something about there being other dogs in the area. Of course, a while back Kiba had also seen the small white dog they passed in the park that was looking for food. And it just so happened to be a female.

"Why are you helping me?" Sakura muttered, her head held low. She could feel all of the alcohol that she had drunken starting to come back and haunt her.

"Because we're a team." Kiba answered. That was the reason he kept telling himself at least.

"I'm sorry for being a burden. You should have stayed and hung with Maio since she wants to fuck you so bad."

"Whoa! What?!" Kiba couldn't believe what he had just heard. Maio! Sure she was pretty, but nowhere near his type. She already had a strike by working for the head. Sorry, but his woman could not work so closely to another male. It would drive his alpha blood crazy and he would snap.

Sakura continued, unable to stop herself from talking at this point. "Maio kept asking about you. She wants you. She even made sure that we weren't together. She's pretty. You should be with her."

Kiba knew he was right. She had been given way too much to drink and it was all starting to come back. He mentally cursed himself for what he was about to do, but it was the only way at this point.

Before Sakura could say anything else, she hefted over Kiba's shoulder and held behind her knees with his other hand on her lower back to steady her. He quickened is pace to the house, wanting to get her in as soon as possible. Good thing he was so fast because the house came into view in no time.

_Finally._ Kiba rushed inside and up to the room that they were originally supposed to share. He would have put her in her own room, but he didn't not know which room she stayed in.

"I hope this is ok for you." He said and lowered her onto the bed in a laying position, her head resting on the pillows.

"I…don't….mind."

Kiba just shook his head. Poor girl was obviously not a drinker or she had gone far over her limit. She was barely forming a sentence at this point. Sighing at his luck Kiba turned to walk out of the room, but then decided against it. Someone had to be here to take care of her if she got sick or anything.

Sighing he walked back into the room and took a seat on the other side of the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Staring at Sakura, he had to admit that. She was not that bad a person. Sure, the two of them fought a lot, but she seemed like she could also be fun also.

He had also never really noticed how pretty she was. Her eyes were a piercing emerald and contrasted her unusual pink hair. H=He wasn't sure where that air came from in her family cause neither o her parents had it. And her body was long and toned. She wasn't overly thin like most girls. Her curves were all in the right placed and everything was tight due to muscle. Her beauty was different from Ino, Tenten and Hinata. She was like something most people probably had never seen. Truly exotic.

Kiba groaned and shook his head of all the thoughts. Here he was, checking out his team mate when he was supposed to be caring for her. This trip was getting weirder and weirder. He really did not need this right now. Wasn't there already enough going on his life?

That's right. Kiba stood and walked to stare out the window, sitting on the ledge and gazing up at the moon. Ever since the mission stated he had not thought once about the mysterious girl who is supposed to be his mate. How could he let such a thing slip his mind? Somewhere, there was a poor girl who had not chosen her fate. How would he approach her when he found her? What would he even say?

Sakura felt movement on the other side of the bed and peeked one eye opening, staying quiet. She stared at Kiba's back as he sat on the window sill and let the light of the illuminate him. He looked so majestic. Her head was still very fuzzy and she smiled. So this was what being drunk felt like. To be in a state that you probably would not even remember in the morning. What an awesome way to escape.

Sakura was extremely tired. She threw one final look in Kiba's direction, before falling asleep.

"Beautiful"

Kiba looked back at the bed to see Sakura in the same sleeping state that he had left her in. He could have sworn that he heard her say something. Oh well. He shrugged it off and went back to his own thoughts.

**Another chapter done and out of the way I've been trying to give you guys a descent amount of action without overdoing it. Don't want everything to unfold too quickly. Cause things are going to slow down a little when they are back in the village. So enjoy this vacation as much as they will my awesome readers. And remember to review and tell me what you think.**

**Until next time**

**Cya**


	9. Thank Yous and Possibilities

**I got a break in my homework and now I think I'm going to try and put out another chapter for all of my fans. I really love the support I'm getting and it makes me feel great. I hope all of you enjoy this fic and keep reading it.**

**On with the fic **

**Chapter 9**

The morning was an incredibly bright one and the day was clear. Sakura yawned and stretched her muscles as sleep started to leave her and she rejoined the world of the living. She turned over in her bed to look to the open window, out at the blue sky. Today just seemed perfect for some reason.

Continuing to lay in her bed, Sakura took that time to replay all of the events of the previous night. She hadn't meant to get so drunk last night. It was fun she had to admit. Though, she did partially remember Kiba helping her home and that was the end of the enjoyment to her thoughts. Great, now she had something to actually thank that ass for.

Sakura had nothing against the dog, even though he always seemed to say the worst things ever. She just hated having to deal with him sometimes and thanking him for anything was sure something to boost his already inflated ego.

Sakura sighed and went ahead and stood up out of the bed. Might as well find the nin and get this over with. But, first things first. She walked over to the wardrobe in the room and opened it, happy to see that her clothes had been cleaned and put away. Man, this place really did know how to make you feel welcomed.

She changed and left the room, beginning her search or the dog nin. It sucked that she had never gotten a tour of the house to know where she was going. Walking blindly through the mansion was definitely going to take her a long time. She sighed and pushed forward.

Kiba looked back over his shoulder at his companion that was walking behind him. He had left earlier to get some food. Sure the breakfast that they served him was good enough, but he had so much pent up frustration that he decided to go hunting to relieve some of it. Last night had bothered him more than he thought and way more than he was willing to admit.

"Why are you so worked up?" Akamaru asked. He had only tagged to make sure his friend was ok. Otherwise, he would still be cuddled on the bed next to Sakura.

Akamaru didn't know what went on the previous night, but he was sure that it was something big because Kiba had been acting strange ever since he returned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So how was your night?" Kiba shot back with a smirk.

Akamaru returned the gesture. "It was fun. Not what you think."

Kiba understood. Akamaru also went by the mate for life code and if the bitch he hung with wasn't what he was looking for then nothing could happen further.

"So, you gonna tell me what happened last night." Akamaru finally asked.

Kiba sighed. He had been trying to forget. "She got drunk and I took her home. Nothing else." That was as close to the truth without detail as he was willing to go at the moment.

"You wouldn't be acting so strange if it were nothing else. But, if you say so." Akamaru commented and left the topic.

It wasn't long until the mansion came into view and Kiba mentally sighed. He knew that he would inevitably have to face Sakura. She was probably awake by now. Man, dealing with her was something he didn't know if he was prepared for or not. Would she be mad at him for carrying her home? He was just doing her a favor after all, so why would she. Who was he kidding; she was a female. Of course she would somehow find a way to be mad.

Kiba ran his hand through his hair and headed into the mansion. This vacation was becoming less and less fun. He was already ready to go. Being stuck in Konoha didn't seem so bad anymore if this was what he had to deal with in the outside world…Though, Sakura lived in Konoha, so this might just be his life, location be damned.

"Sakura's coming." Akamaru informed him sniffing the air.

"Yeah I know."

Kiba had already caught her scent when he entered the building. It was all over the place. She was coming from the other room and closing in pretty quick. She must have heard the door open and close.

"Oh hey. I was looking for you." Sakura said entering the foyer and meeting up with the object of her current thoughts.

She hadn't been able to get him out of her head all morning. Saying thank you was the moment she had been dreading. Sakura had actually been relieved when she was unable to find him earlier. But she knew the time would come for them to talk eventually and she was dreading it.

Akamaru looked between the pink haired girl and his master. The silence was deafening and the tension was too thick in here for even him. With a 'bye' to Kiba and a bark towards Sakura, he took off up the stairs.

Kiba watched his companion go and mentally cursed him for abandoning him in such a situation. He cleared his throat and focused back on Sakura. Now or never.

"Look, about last night," he started but was cut off.

"Thank You!"

Sakura blurted the words so quickly she almost thought she said them wrong. She didn't know what Kiba was about to say, but wanted to make sure she steered the conversation in a better light right away.

"For helping me…Thanks."

Kiba just stared. He had been expecting a lot, but thanks was nowhere in those thoughts. This was surprising and knocked him off his game a little.

"You're welcome. It was no problem….You really shouldn't drink that much if you can't handle it." He added.

"I can handle my liquor fine. I was just off last night." Sakura said, getting mad that Kiba actually made a point about something.

Who was she kidding? She was the light weight of the group. The girl couldn't drink a cooler without getting tipsy, let alone shoot hard liquor. Tsunade's powers did not rub off on her. But he didn't need to know that.

"Then you shouldn't drink when you're 'off'. Something bad could have happened if I wasn't there."

Kiba didn't know why he kept talking. She had said thank you and he could have left it at that. But, the fact that she had been so careless, was just bothering him. The thought that something bad could have happened to her was bothering him more than it should have. Sure, she was a team mate and a friend, but this felt personal for some reason.

Sakura sighed, barely containing her building anger. She was not a child and did not need to be talked to in this way, especially not by some dog boy. Gritting her teeth, she turned to leave the room.

"You're…right…" She almost choked on her words, but tried to keep the peace. "I'll be more careful next time." She finished and exited quickly before he could say anything else to her and her composure slip.

Kiba watched her retreat and just headed up the stairs after Akamaru. He found the dog in his room sitting in the center of the bed.

"So, how badly did you fuck it up?" he asked.

Kiba walked over and sat on the bed, his hands going to his head. "I didn't…I mean, she seemed a little mad, but I only told the truth."

"So you bombed it." The dog commented.

Kiba looked over at his friend annoyed. "No. I didn't. Everything is fine. In fact, I'm ready to leave. This vacation is horrible."

Akamaru walked to sit beside the dog nin. "Do you think Sakura is ready to go?"

"Does it matter? I'm the leader, I have the say." At this point, Kiba didn't care. What was the point of staying here really? He wasn't having fun and Sakura was just drinking. If they left, at least he wouldn't have to worry about a repeat of last night.

Akamaru couldn't believe how dense Kiba was. "Please tell me that's not the reason you're going to give her when you talk to her."

"Does she deserve any other reason?"

Maybe Akamaru was forgetting, but Kiba wasn't, that he was the male in this situation. He was alpha and didn't have to answer to any female, especially not Sakura. If anything, the only female he would ever consider, and that's only considering, answering to was the hokage and his mate. Sakura was neither.

"Could I speak with you on a serious matter?" Akamaru asked.

He didn't want to burst any bubbles, but this situation looked like it needed a push in the right direction before the volcano that was building erupted. He wouldn't directly state anything. Just hint and put some thoughts in the dog nins head.

"Shoot." Kiba said.

He laid back on the bed, his arms folded behind his head and stared at the ceiling. His mind was half on the previous conversation and half listening to the dog.

"Have you thought any more about the person who might be your mate since we left?"

Kiba thought for a second. Sure, it had crossed his mind, but he really hadn't been stressing it like he was before he left. It was odd that he would even be able to forget such a big issue.

"Not really." He admitted.

Akamaru paused. He was trying to choose his words carefully. "You do know that every girl in your graduating class is a potential suspect right?"

"Yes. So?" He wished the dog would just spit it out already.

"Sakura is also one of those suspects." Akamaru finished and jumped off of the bed heading for the door.

Kiba shot up and stared after the dog.

"I mean, if you think about, there seems to have been some strange chemistry between you two lately."

Akamaru left the room, leaving a very shocked nin in his place. Kiba couldn't believe nor accept any of this. Sakura? There was no way. She was too powerful. He didn't think that even he could rape her and get away with it. Even if he was in his mating heat and his strength was more than usual, Sakura was still one strong girl.

Kiba laid back again and continued staring at the ceiling, his head spinning. That was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. Sakura and he mates? They could barely stand each other. It wasn't her. Ino maybe. Even Tenten possibly. But Sakura? No.

_Kiba stumbled to the window and looked back over at the bed. The covers were a mess and the smell of blood was in the air. He shook his head and took a deep breath. For the moment, his heat was sated. He grabbed his clothes off the floor and dressed. As he did so, he looked around the room. It was nicely decorated he had to admit. Though, his head was throbbing too much for him to focus too closely on the room. As he was about to exit the window, he turned to throw a final glance at the girl left on the bed….._

Kiba's eyes shot open. Had he really just had a flashback or was it a dream? No, it felt real. Though, he never got to see the girl.

Shrugging, he figured it was nothing and would discuss it later with Akamaru. He had more important things to do. Like gather his and Sakura's things and cut this vacation short.

**Sorry, gonna cut you guys here. Sorry it took me so long to upload this. Hope you all enjoyed it. Lol. And yes, there will be more and more flashbacks and weird dreams to come.  
**

**So R&R**

**cya**


	10. Home Sweet Home

**I know it's been a while and I always apologize for this, but everything I think things get better, something else always happens so I'm going to stop making these promises of faster and more updates that I obviously can't keep. Anyway, glad to see that everyone is still so supportive and I'm happy to oblige you all with this new update. Enjoy and review as always.**

Chapter 9

The day was seemingly perfect to any other person that had the ability to actually enjoy it. The weather was nice and the sun was shining. Birds were singing and the sky was clear; not a cloud for miles. Yup, another one of those perfect days that Sakura would just never get the chance to enjoy.

Sakura sighed as she kept up her steady pace behind Kiba. They had bid their farewells, packed their things, and were now only moments away from their village. Kiba hadn't wanted to stay any longer and she honestly could not blame him because the vacation was over before it even started for her also. Whatever Tsunade was thinking, had failed.

The girl stared at the back of the dog nin head as they walked and considered a few things. Ever since they left the village, Kiba hadn't quite seemed himself. For one, not that she was complaining, he was quieter than usual. And he would often look back at her with some strange look that she couldn't quite place.

Sighing, Sakura tried to focus on the trip at hand. They were almost back to Konoha and there she would see as less of Kiba as possible. Hopefully, she would also be able to get Tsunade to consider giving her more time off from the hospital since this little 'vacation' was a bust.

Kiba glanced back as Sakura and noticed that she seemed lost in her own thought so she didn't catch him looking at her this time. Facing forward again, he inwardly groaned and ran his hand through his messy brown hair, trying to focus and clear his head.

When Kiba had started having those flashbacks, he had decided to go and talk to Akamaru and he was unbelieving of anything his friend was saying. All the dog had done was hint at how he should try to get closer to Sakura and remember that she was still an option. There was just no way in hell Kiba could accept that. Ever!

Sakura was not even close to one of the girls that could be on the list. Hell, he had a better chance of it being Ino or something.

Kiba thought for a second. He wasn't trying to insinuate that there was anything wrong with Sakura. Sure she was very pretty, beautiful even, in a weird way. Her eyes were an amazing emerald like he had never seen before and her hair, as odd as it was, had an exotic appeal to it, and her scent…..

Kiba shook his head of the thoughts. That was a territory he did not want to cross with his mind right now. They could not get back to the village soon enough for him. He needed some space to think and be himself. He needed to go home and rest and then go find one of his flings and relieve some stress.

"Something wrong with you? You seem very uncomfortable." Akamaru asked, riding on Kiba's shoulder.

"You already know and I'm not talking to you about it." He muttered back, making sure his voice was low enough so that Sakura didn't hear their conversation.

"Don't be mad at me for making sense." the dog said. Humans! They never could just accept things for what they were; always having to do things the hard way.

"Let's just drop it. You don't make sense so don't think for one second that you're right in any way."

The group continued on in silence for a little while longer until the gates of Konoha could finally be seen in the distance. Sakura could barely conceal the excitement she had for being able to go home again and sleep in her apartment and relax. Kiba was thinking some of the same things, although his included more than sleeping.

Being home was good, but he was instantly reminded that he had a lot going on right now. Somewhere in this village he had a mate to find and still had no clue where to start looking. Also, he had a clan to take over and start getting used to his alpha role.

3

Tsunade sneezed and rubbed her nose. Almost on cue, there was also a cold chill that went down her spine. Something was off. She didn't know what it was, but she felt something. Like someone was talking about her or something was about to happen.

"You ok there?"

She refocused her attention to the woman that was standing in front of her desk. Tsume and she had been working closely to see if there was anything they could do about Kiba's situation from their end. Of course, only he and the other person bared the mark (which was inconveniently invisible right now) so neither of them could physically tell.

Tsume had been patrolling the village looking for anything out of the ordinary with any females and Tsunade had examined all women who came into the clinic that could fit the description of what Kiba would go for. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for. For the mark to be hidden, there had to be some chakra work going on here, but she wasn't positive how to identify it so she checked and hoped that she found anything that could be considered out of the ordinary. Nothing had come up.

The list of Kiba's classmates was still an option. She had decided it best not to bother any of them too much so that no suspicions were raised. The last thing anyone wanted was for this to get out to the public and they had been working hard to keep things under wraps.

"Yeah I'm fine." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, hands folded. "I'm not really seeing anything else that we can do."

Tsume nodded. "You're right. Kiba is the alpha male and she the alpha female. They must find each other on their own. There is no way we could sniff her out."

"I thought your clan could always find their own?" Tsunade commented.

"Yes, but like I said, the heat masked his scent and when they made contact, her scent too. We can't sniff her out through his scent and we don't even know who she is to look for hers."

This really had become nothing but a waiting game. As simple as it sounded, this unnerved Tsunade more than anything. She still had not come up with a way to handle the legal matters or this. Rape and clan tradition were all at risk here. It was still a very messy situation.

"I don't know how they do it, but ever since the Rookie 9 graduated the academy, there has been disaster after disaster." Tsunade commented.

Tsume smiled. "Yeah, they definitely are a lot more active than we were at their age."

Just then the door to the office opened and Shizune entered. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Sakura and Kiba have returned to the village and are requesting to see you." she said in a rushed tone.

Tsume and Tsunade looked between each other and then back to the messenger girl.

"Is there anything wrong with them?" Tsunade asked.

"Uh..no..at least I don't think so."

This time Tsume spoke. "So they seem…fine? No problems?"

"Well…They don't seem overly friendly, but I'm not sure what you mean."

Tsunade just dismissed Shizune and instructed for them to be sent in. Asking all these questions would just raise suspicion. The girl quickly left the room and went to go and get the two ninja.

"Well, time to see how things went on their 'mission'" Tsume smiled.

Tsunade steadied herself. She was hoping to kami that nothing happened on this mission. They were back too early so that was already a bad sign, but hopefully nor one that led to Tsume gaining a daughter in law, Kiba getting a wife, and Sakura killing them all.

The doors to the office opened again and the two ninja entered, stopping in front her desk and bowing. Kiba looked when he saw his mother standing next to the hokage.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, unsure. He half wondered if Tsunade knew about his situation and if so, how she felt about.

"Oh, we were just visiting." Tsume said.

Tsunade cleared her throat to gain the attention in the room. "So, how did things go?" she asked. "I noticed you two returned early."

Sakura spoke this time. "Well, we appreciate the vacation, but it just didn't work out."

"Oh, and why is that?" Tsume asked, now interested.

Tsunade half glared at her. She knew the woman was fishing for information.

Kiba swallowed. "We just weren't in the mood for a vacation."

After that an awkward silence filled the room. Kiba and Sakura made eye contact with no one while Tsume and Tsunade stared them both down, trying to decipher the meaning behind this silence.

"Well, is there anything else?" Tsunade asked. "If not, then you both can go."

Kiba and Sakura bowed again and then they both exited the room. Sakura was going to ask about her extra time off, but she figured that she could just come back once those two were done 'visiting'.

As the doors closed Tsume chuckled. "That wasn't strange at all." she commented.

Tsunade turned to look at her. "What do you think?" She was really hoping that this was not the pair.

"We're about to find out…What do you think?"

Tsunade turned to see who her question was directed towards and noticed Akamaru sitting on the fllor in front her desk. Kiba hadn't noticed that he got left behind.

"I'm sure Akamaru can give us a firsthand run down of the situation." Tsume commented.

The small dog barked and walked over to Tsunade, jumping onto her desk. "I think that those two are something to be interested in."

Tsunade watched the exchange between the two of them, not being able to understand what Akamaru was saying anyway.

"Interested in how?" Tsume asked.

"Simple way to put it; I think she's the one."

33333

Sakura and Kiba walked out of the hokage's tower and into the streets of Konoha. It felt so good to the both of them to be back home in their own village and away from that vacation and the memories with it.

"Well, this has been…fun."

Kiba said, stopping at the point where the two of them would split and go their separate ways. There was a moment of silence where the both of them just looked around.

"All things aside, this mission or whatever wasn't completely horrible." Sakura said, being the first to break the silence.

Kiba scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I was kind of an ass in some parts. I do apologize for that." he admitted.

She thought for a moment. Yes, he had been an ass, but a lot of the things he did also helped her, especially that night at the club.

"You weren't that bad. I do appreciate what you did for me….Well, I gotta go."

She finally turned and walked away, heading towards her apartment. Kiba stood and watched her receding form for a few more seconds. It felt…odd…to watch her walk away like that. He could have sworn he felt something compelling him to follow, to make sure she was safe and that no one touched her.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he finally carried on in his own direction. Now that the vacation was over, he had other things to worry about again. He had to find this mystery girl and solve some serious problems; but where to start looking for her?

33333

Naruto ordered another bowl as he leaned back in the booth, petting his already full belly. "Man there is nothing like Ramen before bed." He had already eaten 3 bowls prior.

Shikamaru stared at him in mild disbelief. He knew that the boy could eat but this was inhuman. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

"Of ramen? Never!"

Naruto and Shikamaru were sitting in Ichiraku's and talking to pass the time. Naruto was waiting on someone that Tsunade had wanted him to meet and Shikamaru was just bored and was waiting for Choiji to ditch Ino and meet up with him.

"So, what's the deal with the mysterious person you're waiting for?" Shikamaru asked, remembering.

Naruto shrugged. "Not sure. It's some guy from Suna."

Shikamaru arched a brow. "What is he coming here for?"

"He is supposed to be training under Tsunade and Sakura for medicine so that the meds in Suna can be better prepared to help people."

Naruto personally thought it was a great idea that Konoha and Suna were helping each other out this way. With Gaara as the Kazekage, things had really gotten more peaceful between the two and more convenient.

"So Sakura's getting a student?" Shikamaru toyed with the idea. She was still somewhat of a student herself, but he guessed that her knowledge and skill was on a pretty high level.

Naruto nodded. "Yup, hopefully he's a cool guy and she gets a boyfriend out of this." Naruto said. "I think that if she wasn't such a loner, she would enjoy life more instead of spending all her time at the hospital."

Shikamaru wasn't one for getting into other people's private business, but he did have to admit that she spent a lot of time there, so maybe Naruto actually had a point.

Just then, a figure walked over to the table and smiled down at the two nin. Naruto and Shikamaru looked to see their visitor and eyes him. It was a boy, around the age of 21. He stood tall with black spiky hair and dark eyes. He had a half smile on his face, almost like a smirk.

"Well, since you are the only guys here, I suppose you're who I'm looking for." he said to them both, flashing a toothy smile. "How are you? Name's Kazu."

**I feel like this is short, but I am going to end it there. And to help give you a visual of Kazu, think Ichigo with black hair and roy mustang eyes.**

**Anyway, hope you all liked it and I know the suspense is killing for when the two of them will find the truth out, but you are just going to have to keep reading and find out.**

**But, uh-oh, Kazu might give Kiba a run for his money ;)**

**Cya**


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